Although he could only muster 23 runs in his innings despite looking in good touch, that much was enough for Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam to set a record for his country with the bat.
Babar’s innings helped him eclipse the 1000-run mark for Pakistan in ICC events, and in doing so in this big rivalry match against India at the ICC Champions Trophy, he became the fastest Pakistan batter to reach that mark.
It came up in Babar’s 24th innings in ICC 50-over events, meaning he reached the mark just one innings faster than former Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar.
Fastest to 1000 runs in ICC ODI events for Pakistan:
Babar Azam*: 24 innings
Saeed Anwar: 25 innings
Javed Miandad: 30 inning
Babar began his ICC journey for Pakistan with the Champions Trophy in 2017, which finished with the team lifting the trophy as Babar contributed with 133 runs in his debut tournament. He then had a strong showing in the subsequent World Cup in 2019, one of Pakistan’s most important players as he scored 474 runs in that tournament at an average of 67, including a century.
The Pakistan star batter had a strong start to this Champions Trophy as well, scoring 64 runs in the first match against New Zealand, but received criticism for the slow pace of his innings while opening the batting in a big chase.
Pakistan bat first in must-win game vs India
In this crucial must-win rivalry match against India, Babar once again opened the batting. Although he struck a couple of good-looking boundaries to get his innings going, his intent to take the attack to India in the powerplay also proved to be his undoing.
Hardik Pandya dismissed the former Pakistan captain as he tried to drive a ball through the offside despite not quite reaching the pitch of the delivery. A thick edge carried through to KL Rahul behind the stumps, with the wicketkeeper completing the catch for India’s first wicket of the day.
India would pick up a second wicket soon after, as Imam-ul-Haq tried a risky run against the strong arm of Axar Patel, with the Indian all-rounder firing a bullseye at the stumps to dismiss the opener.
However, Pakistan are attempting to rebuild the innings through Saud Shakeel and captain Mohammad Rizwan, while India’s bowlers try to keep a cap on the scoring-rate and apply pressure.