‘Abe padhai Likhai karo, strike rate badhao’ – Fans react as Babar Azam’s picture of playing video game goes viral on internet

One of the standout cricketers of the Pakistan cricket team, Babar Azam will be back in the national squad as captain for the T20I and ODI home series against New Zealand. The T20I series is scheduled to be held first as both sides will clash against each other on April 14. The Men in Green recently competed against Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series and were handed a disappointing 2-1 loss. Shadab Khan served as the team’s captain since Babar was rested for the series.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, April 5, Babar shared a photo on social media in which he is seen holding a gaming console. He appears to play a game on PS5 or on Xbox, given that he was holding a gamepad. The right-handed batter is unwinding and having fun before the series against the Kiwis but soon, he will begin preparing for it. He also added a caption that says ‘Let’s begin’ along with the photo. And reacting to it, many users advised him to start training for the upcoming series rather.

Babar recently failed to get a bid in the Hundred drafts in England; to which, England’s fast bowler James Anderson said that the it could be because of Babar’s recent failures. He said that it is not that Babar is not capable of playing in this format. He opined that it must his availability issues as he might be having national duties as well.

“I’ll pay double for him [Babar Azam]. I’ll spend the whole budget on Babar Azam. The only thing I can guess is that there might have been an availability issue, which is why he wasn’t picked,” Anderson said on BCC’s Tailender Podcast.

Shaheen Afridi will be in action after a long time in international platform

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s no.1 fast bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi who hasn’t appeared in an international match since the 20-20 World Cup which was concluded last year in Australia, will be in action as he is also selected for the upcoming series.  Earlier, due to a knee injury, he was unable to participate in the first and second Test matches against New Zealand at home.

Shaheen was in action, though, in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League, where he bowled superbly and helped the Lahore Qalandars club win their second consecutive PSL championship last month. And now Pakistan have welcomed back all five of its senior players: Babar, Shaheen, Harish Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman for the five One Day Internationals and five T20Is against the Blackcaps that will be played in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi from April 14 to May 7.

Here’s how fans reacted: