Mohammad Asif: “He hit me for 11 fours”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has revealed that captain Babar Azam hit him for 11 boundaries in a club match.
Azam, who was 16 at the time, went on to make 84 runs in the match before being dismissed by Asif.
Soon after this match, he tried out for the ZTBL (Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited) bank team, which resulted in Asif asking the administrators of the side why they were “hesitating” to pick Azam, especially after he hit him for 11 fours.
“Why are you hesitating with him? He hit me for 11 fours. Note down his name and include him in the bank team; he will prove to be an asset for you,” Asif said in a space session on X, formerly known as Twitter, as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam is currently captaining Pakistan in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and has scored 216 runs in seven matches, which includes three fifties, at an average of 30.85.
The men in green began the tournament with two wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing their next four games against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Pakistan ended that dismal run with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Kolkata.
Since they still have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals, they will no doubt be looking to defeat New Zealand in their match on November 4 in Bengaluru.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali
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