Watch: Angry Babar Azam Stops Short Of Throwing Bottle At Ill Mannered Fans

Babar Azam has been under pressure since the ODI World Cup 2023. He lost his Pakistan cricket team captaincy amid struggles with form in international cricket. However, in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he plays for Peshawar Zalmi, the former Pakistan cricket team captain hit two back to back half-centuries. In the match against Multan Sultans he went on to score 31. In a video that has come to light, reportedly from the match against Multan Sultans, a group of fans cane be heard jeering at Babar Azam.   

The fans can be heard as referring to Babar Azam as 'Zim Babar'. After some time , Babar Azam stared back at them and even came close to throwing a bottle of water. 

This is really unacceptable, Never expected this from Multan fans.. pic.twitter.com/MgZWQlO8oR

— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) February 24, 2024

Recently, former Pakistan cricket director Muhammad Hafeez claimed that ex-captain, Babar Azam and foreign coaches Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn had given team fitness lowest priority in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup in India. Pakistan, under then-skipper Babar, had failed to make it to the semifinal knockout round, losing five of the nine league games and finishing fifth. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently did not renew Hafeez's contract following disastrous tours of Australia and New Zealand. Hafeez was made team director in late 2023 after Pakistan's abysmal show in the World Cup.

Soon after he took charge, Pakistan were whitewashed in the three-Test series down under, while they lost the five-match T20I series against the Kiwis 4-1.

"When I took over as director (in 2023) and we reached Australia, I told the team trainer to give me a report on the players' fitness standards and prepare a new fitness regimen," said Hafeez.

"He told me that the former captain (Babar) and head coach (Arthur) had told him six months ago that fitness is not the priority at the moment and let the players play as they wanted," Hafeez revealed on the ARY sports channel.

"This was shocking news for me when he (team trainer) told me that he was told to not check the players fitness," added Hafeez.

With PTI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

Peshawar Zalmi Babar Azam Pakistan Cricket Team Cricket