‘Very disappointed with…’: Babar Azam shares his frustration even after 3 consecutive fifties on South Africa tour

After he got dropped from the Test squad at home against England last year, Babar Azam made a significant return to the Test cricket format. Babar has been the standout performer for Pakistan with the bat in the South Africa tour, scoring three consecutive half-centuries in two Test series.

However, he got left frustrated by his dismissal as the Day 3 came to an end at Cape Town. Babar failed to complete his century and had to return to the dugout after scoring just 81 runs.

“I’m very disappointed with both innings. I started well, but didn’t finish well,” Babar said after Day 3’s play as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“If you settle, you must go much bigger. That is why I was a bit upset. There were just 15 minutes left,” he added.

After getting bowled out at 194, Babar opened the innings with captain Shan Masood as Saim Ayub was injured. Both the openers shared a partnership of 205 runs, which is the highest by an opening pair in history of Test cricket.

“The conditions here are different from Centurion, when you come to South Africa, you don’t expect that [the pitch will be so flat]. With the new ball, it was a bit challenging, but once you settled down and built a partnership, it became easier. But there are some rough patches; you saw a couple of overs from Maharaj to Shan which got some turn and bounce. So the spinner is a bit of a challenge for the batter. But against the fast bowler, if you’re settled, just play your normal game,” he concluded.

Classic Babar Azam shotpic.twitter.com/Fj7TlweQoU

— Haroon (@ThisHaroon) January 5, 2025

Pakistan were at 213/1 after Day 3 came to an end. Nightwatchman Khurran Shahzad scored eight runs from 14 balls. Skipper Shan Masood stayed unbeaten for 102 off 166 balls. Pakistan still needs to get rid of a trail of 208 runs

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