In pursuit of a massive target of 345 set by Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup 2023, the captain of Pakistan, Babar Azam got dismissed for 10, which has led to a plethora of criticism for him on social media. The world's number one ODI batter in men’s cricket hasn’t had a good start to the tournament with the bat in hand in the first couple of matches, which led to the cricket fans not sparing him on Twitter at all.
During the first match of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Netherlands, played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Babar Azam was sent back to the pavilion for five runs, after Saqib Zulfiqar took the catch off the bowling of Colin Ackermann. And now, at the same venue, the premier batter from Pakistan was caught behind off the bowling of Dilshan Madushanka, after the makeshift wicket-keeper for Sri Lanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama took a smart catch down the leg side.
At the moment of Babar Azam’s dismissal, the scoreboard for Pakistan read 37-2 in the eighth over, with the ODI World Cup 2023 debutant Abdullah Shafique awaiting the number four batter Mohammad Rizwan to join him in the middle. In the meantime, the social media platform Twitter went abuzz with a lot of criticism for the Pakistan captain, but there were a few fans who kept their belief in him too.
Moreover, in their batting innings, Sri Lanka put up a massive score of 344/9 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to the quality performance from their top order. Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama got impressive hundreds against a widely renowned bowling attack of Pakistan, while Pathum Nissanka put together a fifty on the board too.