It was a subject day for Pakistan as they racked up 328 for the lack of 4 wickets on Day 1 of their first Take a look at of the three-match collection towards England in Multan. Opening batter, Abdullah Shafique, and red-ball skipper, Shan Masood, piled on respective centuries as they positioned the hosts on a dominant platform forward of the second day of the sport.
Nevertheless, ace batter Babar Azam‘s dry spell continued as he registered one more subpar rating. On a monitor the place nothing a lot appeared to have labored for the English bowling line-up who discovered it onerous to not solely take wickets, but additionally comprise the Pakistani batters, Babar fell for a 71-ball 30-run knock. Chris Woakes, making a Take a look at return to Asia after a whopping span of eight years, pinned Babar plumb in entrance after a collection of deliveries of drawing him in the direction of his off-stump.
Babar went up for the evaluation immediately, but it surely was a choice prompted extra out of hope than the rest, because the ball-tracker confirmed three reds for him to make a disappointing stroll again to the pavilion. Apart from the truth that the pitch was an absolute belter to bat on, what would compound the dismay in Babar’s thoughts can be the truth that solely 9 deliveries have been left earlier than Stumps. With this dismissal, Babar’s watch for a rating in extra of fifty within the longest format attracts nearer to a two-year anniversary.
Additionally Learn: Twitter Reactions: Pakistan capitalize on flat Multan monitor as Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique convey up tons on Day 1
Babar sits atop undesirable record
Babar, who scored his final half-century in Checks in December 2022, has gone 16 innings and not using a 50-plus rating because the begin of 2023. Others within the listing embody Shreyas Iyer with 12, KS Bharat with 10, James McCollum with 8, and three batters on 7.
Additionally Learn: PAK vs ENG 2024: Shan Masood turns into seventeenth Pakistan captain to attain Take a look at century
Apparently, December 2022 was additionally the final time Babar scored a century within the longest format. Babar, who used to common properly above 50 earlier than this lean part began, has seen his common dip to 44.51 as of now.
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