Babar Azam gives befitting reply to strike-rate brigade

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Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, brought up his third T20I century on Saturday against New Zealand at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Babar played an unbeaten 101-run knock from 58 balls, which led Pakistan to a convincing victory against the visitors. The 28-year-old smashed three sixes and 11 fours during his blistering innings, which earned him his ninth player of the match award in T20Is.

The right-hand batsman celebrated his century in an animated fashion, expressing his excitement and joy for achieving the milestone on the last ball of the innings.

Babar was questioned in a post-match interview by Zainab Abbas about whether the celebration was aimed at his critics, who had been questioning his strike rate in T20I matches.

"You can say that," Babar replied with a chuckle.

"But I don't keep these types of things in my mind. I play according to the situation and build my innings according to the team’s requirement," he added.

 

.@babarazam258 on his century celebration and how he builds his innings according to the match situation 🏏#PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/v35YcrlBXY

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 16, 2023

 

When asked about his thoughts on personal milestones, the Pakistan captain said, "I'm not too worried about personal milestones. I'm focused on performing in a way that I can help my team win. The team comes first and then milestones."

He further added, "From an individual point of view, you can say this was a special hundred."

Babar has become the first captain ever to score three T20I hundreds in the shortest format of the game. He also equalled the record for most wins as skipper in T20Is after beating the visitors by 38 runs tonight.