Pakistan’s star trio of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi made forgettable Big Bash League (BBL) debuts, drawing mixed reactions from cricket fans on Monday.
Babar, who was directly signed by the Sydney Sixers ahead of the players’ auction, failed to live up to the hype created by the franchise as the star batter scored a scratchy two off five deliveries in the curtain raiser against Perth Scorchers on Sunday at the Optus Stadium.
The right-handed batter survived a scare on the third delivery he faced as he lobbed a hard-length delivery, bowled by Joel Paris, briefly into the air, but it fell between the two fielders stationed at mid-wicket and mid-on.
The 31-year-old, however, attempted a similar shot on the fifth delivery he faced and was eventually caught at mid-on, walking out after scoring two off five deliveries.
Former Pakistan white-ball captain Rizwan, representing Melbourne Renegades in the BBL 15, had an equally underwhelming outing with the bat as he fell for a 10-ball four in the ongoing fixture against Brisbane Heat.
The innings also saw Pakistan’s ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi being taken away from the attack after bowling two over-the-waist-height no-balls in the same over.
Shaheen, who conceded nine and 19 in his first two overs, respectively, had an abrupt ending to his third, and thus finished with dismal bowling figures of 0/43 in 2.4 overs.
The star trio’s unwanted start to their respective BBL careers drew widespread criticism from cricket fans, who flocked to social media to express their frustration.
A cricket fan, bearing the username Shoaib Niazi, on X termed their struggles as a “horrible” start for Pakistan cricketers in general.
“Horrible start for Pakistani players in BBL .. first Babar and now Rizwan and Shaheen,” he wrote on the microblogging website.
Another cricket fan, bearing the username Maaz, claimed that the trio was “exposed” after being overhyped by their respective BBL franchise, while also holding them responsible for the Pakistan cricket team’s downfall.
“BBL were hyping Babar, Shaheen , Rizwan non stop. All 3 of the overhyped stars got exposed in their first match. They need to do massive self reflection where [their] game is at currently and put their ego aside. PCT downfall started in last 2 years [because] of their under performance.”
For the unversed, a total of seven Pakistan cricketers are representing different franchises in the ongoing 15th edition of the BBL.
