“Going to be an exciting finish tomorrow”: R Ashwin commends Babar Azam for 6th Test century vs Australia in Karachi

R Ashwin commends Babar Azam: The ace Indian cricketer lauded the Pakistani captain for his splendid knock at the National Stadium.

During the fourth day of the second Test of the ongoing Australia’s tour of Pakistan in Karachi, Pakistan captain Babar Azam scored his sixth Test century against a testing bowling unit on a surface where his team had been bundled out for 148 a day before.

Azam, who came out to bat at No. 4 in the 23rd over at a time when Pakistan were scoring at less than a run per over, executed a whole different and affirmative batting approach.

While opener Abdullah Shafique (71*) remained resolute with his defensive technique to score at a strike rate of 31.41, Azam’s knock was full of exuberance and audacity. Seeming to be unperturbed about the target, Azam was masterful at playing deliveries on merit especially when it came to boundary balls.

Azam, who brought up a half-century by running a single off Australia spinner Nathan Lyon in the 50th over, was exceptional at putting on display a combination of singles, doubles and boundaries to not let the Australian attack pick any more wickets than two wickets on Day 4.

It was in the 78th over that Azam ran a couple of runs off debutant Australia spinner Mitchell Swepson to reach the three-figure mark. In what is his second Test century against Australia and first as captain, Azam has registered a home Test century for the fourth time in his career.

R Ashwin commends Babar Azam for scoring sixth Test century in Karachi

Azam’s heroic fourth innings effort at the National Stadium caught the attention of ace Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin took to social media platform Twitter to commend Azam and also appeared to be in anticipation of an “exciting” Day 5 finish tomorrow.

Babar Azam 👏👏, going to be an exciting finish tomorrow. #PAKvAUS

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) March 15, 2022

While Pakistan would be fancying their chances of sealing a world record chase by scoring the remaining 314 runs with eight wickets in hand on Wednesday, it would be easier said than done on a Day 5 pitch. Azam, who was stupendous with the bat in hand today, will have to continue playing in this manner in order for Pakistan to gain a 1-0 series lead.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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