Pakistan and Sri Lanka are currently fighting it out in the first Test of the two-match series. This is the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for both teams and they will be keen on starting their campaign well. Sri Lanka, the hosts, are dominating the opening Test at the moment having posted a decent score of 312 runs in the first innings. However, Pakistan haven't started off well with their skipper Babar Azam also getting out cheaply.
He came out to bat at number four and the team needed him to stick around for long in order to at least get close to Sri Lanka's total. Babar Azam started off well hitting a boundary very early in his innings. He also played a brilliant backfoot punch off Prabath Jayasuriya that went for four and at one stage, signs looked ominous for the hosts.
But in the same over that he went for four, the left-arm spinner Jayasuriya redeemed himself perhaps with a harmless delivery. It was a length ball sliding on middle from round the wicket. The Pakistan captain looked to work it through the on-side but he played very tentatively unsure about the turn. In the process, the ball took the inside-edge of the bat and lobbed for the wicketkeeper to catch who didn't make any mistake.
Babar looked very good in the middle but couldn't go on to play a big knock this time around. With a low score in the first innings, he also missed out on going up in the ICC Test rankings. He is currently ranked third and only 21 rating points behind the number 1 Test batter Kane Williamson. However, this failure will lead to him losing a few points. Babar Azam will get yet another chance in the second innings to make amends and it remains to be seen if he can go big.
Meanwhile, his failure in the first innings against Sri Lanka has led to netizens trolling him a lot. Here are some of the reactions:
