Ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand, there was a lot of talk around Babar Azam leading Pakistan across all the formats. While several rumours surfaced, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi confirmed later that Babar has been retained as captain in all formats but he will have to keep winning to stay at the helm. Well, the Pakistan captain has started on a winning note beating New Zealand in the first of five-match T20I series by a mammoth 88 runs. Not only the win, Babar Azam has also equalled MS Dhoni to climb to second position in the list of most wins as captain in the shortest format.
He overtook Aaron Finch who led Australia in 40 matches in T20Is while Babar Azam has now levelled up with Dhoni with 41 wins as captain of Pakistan. MS Dhoni also led India to 41 victories during his stint at the helm in the 20-over game at the international game. Perhaps, Babar also has a chance to reach the top position in this aspect if he wins two or more wins in the ongoing series against New Zeaand.
Eoin Morgan and Asghar Afghan jointly share the top spot as most wins as captain in T20I cricket. They have won 42 matches while leading England and Afghanistan respectively. Babar Azam will lead Pakistan in at least four more T20Is in the ongoing New Zealand series and hence, can overtake both Morgan and Afghanistan by the looks of it.
As far as the game is concerned, Babar Azam scored only nine runs. While Mohammad Rizwan also endured a failure, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub played some aggressive cricket to bring Pakistan back into the game. The hosts posted 182 runs before getting bunddled out while Matt Henry also picked up a hattrick. In response, Haris Rauf ripped apart the New Zealand batting line-up picking up four wickets as the Kiwis were skittled for just 94 runs in 16th over itself.
