However, he got left frustrated by his dismissal as the Day 3 came to an end at Cape Town. Babar failed to complete his century and had to return to the dugout after scoring just 81 runs.

“I’m very disappointed with both innings. I started well, but didn’t finish well,” Babar said after Day 3’s play as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“If you settle, you must go much bigger. That is why I was a bit upset. There were just 15 minutes left,” he added.

After getting bowled out at 194, Babar opened the innings with captain Shan Masood as Saim Ayub was injured. Both the openers shared a partnership of 205 runs, which is the highest by an opening pair in history of Test cricket.

“The conditions here are different from Centurion, when you come to South Africa, you don’t expect that [the pitch will be so flat]. With the new ball, it was a bit challenging, but once you settled down and built a partnership, it became easier. But there are some rough patches; you saw a couple of overs from Maharaj to Shan which got some turn and bounce. So the spinner is a bit of a challenge for the batter. But against the fast bowler, if you’re settled, just play your normal game,” he concluded.

Classic Babar Azam shotpic.twitter.com/Fj7TlweQoU

— Haroon (@ThisHaroon) January 5, 2025

Pakistan were at 213/1 after Day 3 came to an end. Nightwatchman Khurran Shahzad scored eight runs from 14 balls. Skipper Shan Masood stayed unbeaten for 102 off 166 balls. Pakistan still needs to get rid of a trail of 208 runs

The post ‘Very disappointed with…’: Babar Azam shares his frustration even after 3 consecutive fifties on South Africa tour appeared first on Cricket Country.

However, a small incident happened during the 32nd over of the innings, where Wiaan Mulder made a wild throw that went on to hit Babar on the right leg. As a result, the former Pakistan skipper was raged as he looked at Mulder who was caught saying on the stump mic, “You were out of the crease“.

Wicketkeeper Kyle Verryene also made an attempt to run out as Babar had left the crease to confront the pacer. The attempted run-out was similar to that of Alex Carey when he shocked Jonny Baristow durig the previous Ashes, which caused a lot of controversy.

Fight moment between Babar Azam and Wiaan Mulder. 🥵

Wiaan Mulder unnecessary throws the ball at Babar Azam & showing him verbal aggression. #BabarAzam𓃵 #PAKvsSA #SAvPAK pic.twitter.com/PZnPNTWELZ

— Ahtasham Riaz (@ahtashamriaz22) January 5, 2025

The on-field umpire stepped in to stop the parties and clear up the situation. Babar also had some sort of talk with Aiden Markram. Shan Masood tried to calm Babar as well.

The former Pakistan skipper eventually got dismissed by left-arm pacer Marco Jansen in 47th over. he went for a massive drive through the covers, where he was caught by David Bedingham. Babar scored 81 runs from 124 balls , including 10 fours.

The post WATCH: Babar Azam gets enraged as South African pacer hits him- Gets involved in Verbal exchange appeared first on Cricket Country.

Pakistan team has done well in their recent ODI matches, as they have defeated Australia and South Africa. Before the Champions Trophy, he Men in Green will lock horns with New Zealand and South Africa in a tri-series.

The Pakistan squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 has not been officially announced, but it looks like it should not be very different from the team that has played in South Africa.

Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Harris Rauf are certain to feature in the squad, along with Saim Ayub also confirming his place in the squad as he scored two centuries in the ODIs against South Africa.

Abdullah Shaqifue is likely going to be dropped because he had a horrible outing in the three ODIs, getting dismissed three times on ducks. Fakhar Zaman is likely going to replace him.
Muhammad Irfan Khan and Kamran Ghulam might get retained in the squad as they have shown remarkable performance in the middle order.
Usman Khan might be the one to serve as the backup keeper.

Main concern for Pakistan team lies in the spin bowling. Agha Salman has done well as an all-rounder, but there is no surity that he alone will be able to handle the spin bowling responsibilities. Pakistan can even consider bringing back veteran all-rounder Shadab Khan in the squad, while Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain will be the pacers.

Pakistan’s expected squad for Champions Trophy 2025:
Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)

The post 2 Player Rested: Pakistan’s Expected squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 appeared first on Cricket Country.

After performing exceptionally well in the first 2 matches, Mohammad Rizwan’s side gave another all-round effort to win the final match of the series by 36 runs, etching their name in history books.

The third ODI saw Saim Ayub score his third century in the format off 94 deliveries. The 22-year-old left-handed batter smashed 13 boundaries and 2 sixes to carry Pakistan to a massive total of 308/9 in an encounter marred by rain.

Senior batters Babar Azam and Rizwan also scored half-centuries while Salman Ali Agha finished the innings strongly for the visitors with his valiant knock of 48 from 33 deliveries.

Young spinner Sufiyan Muqeem gave a highly impressive bowling performance and finished with brilliant figures of 4/52 which helped the visitors bundle out the Proteas for 271 in 42 overs.

For South Africa, Heinrich Klaasen played a fabulous knock of 81 from 43 deliveries and Corbin Bosch also played a valiant cameo of 40, but in the end it wasn’t enough as the Proteas slumped to a third consecutive ODI defeat.

South Africa will now be looking to bounce back from this massive loss in the upcoming 2-match Test series against Pakistan which is set to commence from December 26.

The post First time in Cricket history: Pakistan achieves HUGE feat with ODI series whitewash over South Africa appeared first on Cricket Country.

This was Ayub’s second ton of the series after he had also reached a 3-digit score during the first ODI of the series in Paarl which Pakistan ended up winning by 3 wickets.

With the ton in Johannesburg, Ayub joined an elite list of visiting batters with multiple hundreds in South Africa. He joined the likes of David Warner, Fakhar Zaman and Joe Root, who also have two ODI hundreds in South Africa. Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen and Virat Kohli lead the list with 3 hundreds in 7 and 6 matches respectively.

In a contest which saw the overs get reduced to 47 due to rain interruptions, Ayub went all out and smashed 13 boundaries and 2 sixes in his fantastic knock. His fiery innings propelled Pakistan to a competitive total of 308 runs.

The duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan also played valiant knocks of 52 and 53 respectively. Finally, Salman Ali Agha (48) and Tayyab Tahir (28) also played very important cameos to guide Pakistan to the big total.

South Africa now face the difficult task of chasing the total in Johannesburg. If they aren’t able to do so then Pakistan will complete a remarkable series whitewash over the Proteas.

The post Saim Ayub joins Virat Kohli in elite list with second century in South Africa ODI series appeared first on Cricket Country.

 Amir acknowledged Kohli’s exceptional talent and his consistent ability to perform under pressure. He also declared Kohli to be the greatest player of his generation and added that unnecessary comparisons between the India batter and other cricketers make him laugh.

“Virat Kohli is the greatest player of this generation. I laugh when comparisons are made between him and Babar Azam, Steve Smith, or Joe Root. We cannot compare Virat Kohli to anyone because he has won so many matches for India, which seems impossible for any one player. Not just in one format, but in all three formats, Virat is the greatest batsman of this generation,” Amir said on the Cricket Predicta Show.

Amir spoke about Kohli’s brilliant career following his challenging tour of England back in 2014 while also mentioning about his rivalry with the India cricketer.

“Virat Kohli’s work ethic sets him apart from all players. After his bad phase in England in 2014, the way he made a comeback and then consistently performed brilliantly for the next 10 years was no ordinary feat. His wicket in the 2017 Champions Trophy final was very important for us, which helped us win the final. If Virat had not been dismissed, we would have lost the final because we all know how exceptional Virat’s record is while chasing runs,” Amir said.

Kohli will be in action during India’s fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series which will be played in Melbourne and will commence from December 26. The 36-year-old will be looking to improve his Test form with the upcoming match at the MCG.

The post ‘I laugh when Virat Kohli is compared to Babar Azam’: Ex-Pakistan star gives HUGE statement appeared first on Cricket Country.

Speaking on the Ultra Edge Podcast, Imam was asked the question about what he would do if he woke up as Rohit. The answer that came is something that is surely going to leave everyone shocked.

“Oh my God, you haven’t met him, he’s a personality of a different level. He completely forgets where he kept his gloves and bats. Babar tells me about an incident, do you remember there was a captain’s meeting and these guys went on a plane, he had bought a new iPhone and AirPods,” Imam said while speaking on the podcast.

“He said we were talking and he first left his iPhone here, then in the plane and then his AirPods every two minutes. Then, he was cursing himself, what am I doing, I keep forgetting things. [Babar] said twice he took his phone saying, ‘Rohit bhai, ye apna phone rakhlein’,” Imam said.

Indian star batter Virat Kohli had also earlier revealed that Rohit Sharma has a weak memory and he keeps forgetting his things such as his iPad, wallet and phone every now and then.

The post ‘Rohit Sharma was cursing himself…’: Pakistan cricketer recalls Indian skipper and Babar Azam’s conversation during captain’s meetings appeared first on Cricket Country.

After the spell of Shaheen Afridi came to an end with four wickets, Pakistan won without any issue as they had no trouble in defending the total. However, a tragedy broke out after the 26th over as Heinrich Klaasen and Mohammed Rizwan were spotted dragging it out.

The incident took place after Haris Rauf bowled the last ball f 26th over. Heinrich Klaasen, however, heard Haris muttering something for him. The umpires stepped in and told the players t continue with the match. Mohammed Rizwan was also quick to intervene and was seen having a conversation with Klaasen.

After this interaction, Babar Azam also came to the scenario to find out what caused the argument. Haris Rauf than began to move towards Rizwan and Klaasen, but Babar asked him to stop. However, things did not take time to get back to normal and the game continued soon after.

The post WATCH: Mohammed Rizwan and Haris Rauf get involved in a Heated exchange with Heinrich Klaasen in Cape Town ODI appeared first on Cricket Country.

With his knock of 31 runs from 20 deliveries, Babar became the fastest batter in history to reach 11,000 runs in T20 cricket. The Pakistan batter reached the mark in 299 innings, breaking former West Indies batter Chris Gayle’s record, who reached the same number of runs in the format after playing 314 innings.

The likes of David Warner (330 innings) and Virat Kohli (337 innings) also are below Babar when it comes to this record.  

Coming into the second T20I against the Proteas, the former Pakistan skipper was on 10,989 runs in the T20 format. He crossed the 11,000-run mark during the first innings of the T20I in Centurion.

This wasn’t the only milestone that the Pakistan batter achieved during the match in Centurion. Babar also completed 14,000 runs in international cricket with his knock of 31 against the Proteas and became the second fastest Asian player after Kohli to do so.

While Babar took 338 innings to reach the milestone, Kohli did so in 313 innings. The former also became the 9th fastest player overall to reach the 14,000-run mark in international cricket.

The post Babar Azam creates HISTORY, beats Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli to claim this feat appeared first on Cricket Country.

With this impressive bowling spell, the pacer completed 100 wickets in the shortest format of the game. Shaheen had already clinched over 100 wickets in both the ODI and Test formats which meant that he became the first-ever player from Pakistan to take 100 wickets in all the 3 formats.

Shaheen became the third Pakistan bowler from his country to complete 100 T20I wickets behind Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan. The left-arm pacer has so far taken 112 wickets in ODIs and 116 scalps in Test cricket.

The 3-wicket haul against South Africa saw Shaheen complete 100 scalps in his 74th match in the shortest format. This made him the second-fastest Pakistan bowler to achieve the feat behind Rauf, who took 71 matches to complete 100 scalps in the format.

Overall, Shaheen became the youngest to achieve the feat and joined the ranks of New Zealand’s Tim Southee, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga.

Coming to the match, Shaheen dismissed the likes of Rassie van der Dussen, Davis Miller and Nqabayomzi Peter to help Pakistan restrict the Proteas to a total of 183/9 in 20 overs.

In reply, Pakistan lost Babar Azam for a duck and the other batters also found it difficult to counter against the South African bowlers. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan played a fine knock of 74 runs, but found no support from the other end as Pakistan finished their 20 overs on 172/8, losing the match by 11 runs.

The post Shaheen Afridi creates history, becomes first-ever Pakistan player to achieve THIS feat appeared first on Cricket Country.