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WATCH: Babar Azam looks to stop ball hit by teammate in practice match against Prime Ministers XI

Post his subpar performance in the white-ball tournament, the star Pakistan batter has opted to step down from captaincy across all three formats.

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Mathew K
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Babar Azam (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan is set to face one of the fiercest battles of their career as they Australia in their backyard. Interestingly, Pakistan has till now won only one Test match on Australian soil. Citing this, the former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has also arrived in Australia and has adorned in the Test jersey. In the recent practice session, Azam looked pretty much determined to overcome the disappointments of the Cricket World Cup 2023. 

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Post his subpar performance in the white-ball tournament, the star Pakistan batter has opted to step down from captaincy across all three formats. Now, the prolific batsman is wholeheartedly committed to excelling with the bat, starting with the Test series in Australia. However, ahead of the practice match against the Prime Minister's XI, Babar Azam created a social media frenzy with a noteworthy action.

In preparation for the upcoming Test series against Australia, Pakistan engaged in a practice match against the Prime Minister's XI. During the game, on a delivery delivered by Beau Webster, Shan Masood struck the ball down the ground. While the ball passed the non-striker, Babar, he attempted to gather it using his hands, but the shot was slightly out of reach.

Watch the video;

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Pakistan ended the day at 324/6

After choosing to bat in the practice match against Prime Minister’s XI, Shan Masood took the crease following the early dismissal of Imam-ul-Haq. Displaying an impressive performance, Masood batted throughout the day, hitting 13 fours and a six, guiding Pakistan to 324-6 by the close of the opening day. Sarfaraz Ahmed contributed 41, and Babar Azam, who recently relinquished captaincy, scored 40.

Australia's bowlers faced challenges on the flat pitch, with Jordan Buckingham standing out at 3-63. Cameron Green, sidelined in the Test side, didn't bowl. Australian openers Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, and Matt Renshaw faced a tough day. They vie to replace David Warner, set to retire after the Pakistan series. The Test series starts on December 14 across three matches in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney.

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