Pakistan captain Babar Azam got his World Cup 2023 campaign off to a shoddy start as a batter. Against minnows Netherlands who recently lost to the Karnataka state side in One-Day encounters leading to the World Cup, Babar failed to stamp his authority at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, a venue where they have been training since landing on Indian soil.
After Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards won the toss and opted to field first, ICC World no.1 batter Babar had to walk out to bat in the fourth over after an out-of-form Fakhar Zaman threw his wicket away.
Babar got off the mark with a thick inside edge off his bat. He was beaten by Aryan Dutt but survived a huge lbw shout as the off-spinner had too much spin on the ball. He managed to get just a single off the five balls he faced from Dutt’s over. In Dutt's next over, Babar failed to find the gaps and the frustration grew. He managed just a couple of runs from the over.
Van Beek did not trouble him in the next over and Edwards decided to introduce Colin Ackermann from the end Dutt was bowling from. Babar looked uneasy at the crease as he was not able to score in the powerplay overs. South Africa-born spinner Colin Ackermann started off by beating Babar's bat with a delivery that did not spin enough.
After another dot ball, Babar decided to break the shackles. Ackermann bowled it a bit short but quick on the stumps. Babar took the bat but he could not get the elevation he had expected due to pace. He went back and tried to pull it past the short mid-wicket fielder but could not get through. Saqib Zulfiqar put in a dive to his right to take the catch and stun Babar as he cursed himself for the shot selection.
This was the first time Babar had walked back to the dressing room without scoring a half-century against Netherlands. In a three-ODI series against the Dutch, he scored 222 runs from three innings.
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