Babar Azam drew a lot of criticism for the pace of his innings as Pakistan slumped to a 60-run defeat against New Zealand in their opening game of Champions Trophy 2025. Chasing a daunting target of 321, Pakistan endured a terrible first 10 overs where they managed only 22 in the first 10 overs, losing two wickets as well. Babar – who ultimately made 64 off 90 balls – was heavily criticised by experts and fans alike for his slow knock. Legendary former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram made a hilarious joke to mock Babar’s innings.
Appearing on the post-match show of the ‘Sports Central’ channel, Akram was reminded of his request to Babar to play long without worrying about strike rate. Akram responded to it by referring to an age-old joke.
“There’s a joke, that, when a man argues with his wife, he leaves the house and hurls curses like ‘I want to die’. But God actually listened to him and took his life, the man told God, ‘I was joking. Why did you take it seriously?’,” said Akram.
“Just like that, I was also joking about my statement regarding Babar. Why did he have to take it so seriously?” he joked.