On 10 March 2023, Peshawar Zalmi took on Multan Sultans in the ongoing Pakistan Super League. It was the 27th match of the tournament that took place in Rawalpindi. Babar Azam and his Zalmi side were coming off after a heavy defeat against Quetta Gladiators as they failed to defend a target of 241 runs.
So, fans were hoping for a better show from the Zalmi bowlers in the match against Multan Sultans. But, before the match, reports were there that Babar Azam has been suffering from a fever since morning. Still, he decided to play for the team in the must-win clash. Babar won the toss and opted to bat first. But, in the second innings, he failed to come out to the field due to the fever and that image of him sitting in the dressing room has now gone viral.
Here is the shared image:
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) March 10, 2023
Babar Azam scored 73 runs off 39 balls in the match
Speaking of the match, the Zalmi skipper Babar Azam and Saim Ayub came out to bat. Babar scored 73 runs off 39 balls, at a staggering strike rate of 187.17. He smashed nine fours and two sixes. Along with him, Saim Ayub scored 58 runs off 33 balls and Mohammad Harris scored 35 runs off just 11 balls. Then, Tom Kohler-Cadmore scored 38 runs off 18 balls and thus, Zalmi put up a huge total of 242 runs for six wickets in 20 overs. For the Multan side, Abbas Afridi took four wickets for 39 runs in four overs.
But, during Multan Sultans’ innings, Babar did not come out to the field and in his absence, Tom Kohler-Cadmore got the leadership duties. But, it was another frustrating night for the Zalmi bowlers as Multan Sultans chased down the target in 19.1 overs with four wickets in the bag. Rille Rossouw won the player of the match award for scoring 121 runs off 51 balls. He batted at a strike rate of 237.25 with 12 fours and eight sixes. So, it was another devastating loss for Babar Azam and his side in this ongoing PSL despite putting up such a mammoth score on the board.
Here are some funny tweets shared by fans to troll Babar sitting in the dressing room during the PSL clash:
Aag lage basti mai Babar bhaijan apni masti mai.
— Kunal Agrawal (@KunalAg55523321) March 10, 2023
Raga pose. Zimbu for a reason😅😅
— IPL wale KL ka fan (@nhidegi_) March 10, 2023
Jaldi jaldi flat pitch mein run maar leta hu nhi toh match haarne k baad mere fans mujhe twitter pe defend kaise karenge
— Indian Cricket Fan (@FanofICTforever) March 10, 2023
Aag lage chahe basti me, Baba to rehta masti me.
— Shaikh Sohail 🇮🇳 | شیخ سہیل (@shaikhsohaill10) March 10, 2023
243 chased in 19 over 😭🤣 pic.twitter.com/9woBk7ClLd
— Sumit soni (@Sumit_soni911) March 10, 2023
Zimbu choker e Azam 😭💔
— Saadsyed4ffg (@saadsyed4ff) March 10, 2023
Abey yaar..fever tha gobar ko
— Twintin Quarantino (@EmergingMarke) March 11, 2023
He knew another 240+ will be chased down on that worst pitch so he .... 😉😎😏😏 mastermind zimbu
— Pranav (@PranavR40) March 10, 2023
He had a fever of 102
— Abubkr Warraich (@chab003) March 10, 2023