Zahid Mahmood: “The wicket of Babar Azam was huge and I am very happy about it”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan spinner Zahid Mahmood admitted he felt “very happy” when he got star batsman Babar Azam out in the Champions One-Day Cup.
Mahmood, who hails from Dadu, was playing for the Markhors in the tournament and finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets in six matches at an average of 20.
Azam, meanwhile, represented the Stallions and scored 230 runs in four games, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
“The wicket of Babar Azam was huge and I am very happy about it,” Mahmood was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Before the Champions One-Day Cup, Azam was involved in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh and struck 64 runs at an average of 16.
Most recently, he featured in the first Test against England in Multan and made scores of 30 and 5 as the men in green went on to lose by an innings and 47 runs.
Azam has been rested for the second and third Tests, while 36-year-old Mahmood was recalled to the squad and could make a return after last playing Test cricket in December 2022.
The second Test between Pakistan and England will start on October 15 in Multan.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England:Â Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.