Pakistan vs England Test: Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam is going through a rough patch of his career, especially in red-ball cricket. He is currently featuring in the first Test match against England where he just scored 30 and 5 runs in the first and second innings. It was in December 2022 when Babar hit 161 against New Zealand in a Test in Karachi but since then, he has struggled to get a triple-digit score in the longest format of the game. In the ongoing Test match against England where the pitch was batting-friendly, Babar failed to perform with the bat.
Fans often troll Babar Azam for scoring against small teams. Fans address him with "Zimbabar" or just "Zimbu" and now it seems like Pakistan cricketers also use this nickname to troll the batter.
Having said that, a viral video has emerged on social media where pacer Shaheen Afridi was said to be using the word "Zimbu" multiple times. Since there was no audio in the video, fans speculated that even Shaheen used the word "Zimbu" to mock his teammate.
Sports Tak couldn't verify whether Shaheen used the word or not. However, there have been various reports claiming that there is a rift in the Pakistan dressing room because of captaincy.
This all started when Babar left the captaincy after Pakistan's poor performance in ODI World Cup 2023, the board appointed Shaheen as Pakistan's white-ball captain and Shan Masood became the Test captain. However, Shaheen was removed from captaincy ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 with Babar regaining the position.
Babar, however, recently stepped down from the role once again. Pakistan haven't named his replacement yet.
Pakistan are currently facing England for the first Test match of three Test match series where the hosts are struggling and the game is going in favour of the Jos Buttler-led side.
Harry Brook's 317 and Joe Root a record-setting 262 helped England to take a lead of 267 runs and they picked up quick wickets in the second innings. Pakistan have lost six wickets before the final day. The hosts need 115 to avoid an innings defeat.
