Babar Azam and Naseem Shah indulged in an amusing one-on-one battle at the Lahore nets for the Pakistan-England T20I series.
Babar Azam and Naseem Shah were involved in an interesting face-off during a net session prior to the fifth T20I of the ongoing series against England in Lahore on Wednesday (September 28). The Pakistan skipper was seen indulging in a proper one-on-one battle during a practice session at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The fair-spirit duel was seen in a clip posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on their official Twitter handle. Babar took on Naseem with both the cricketers carrying match-like intensity into their practice session, aiming to get on top of each other before the clash with the Englishmen.
It was Naseem who kicked off the battle with a couple of sharp bouncers, one of which went on to hit Babar Azam on the chest and left the modern-day batting giant in some discomfort. A high-class player, Babar, however, responded to his rising young teammate with a fantastic shot down the ground.
During the clip posted by the PCB Twitter handle, one can see that Naseem bowled a quick bouncer at Babar Azam, which hit the Pakistan skipper on the chest while he went for a reflex pull shot off the short-pitched delivery.
In those few seconds before the camera cut to the next ball, Babar looked in evident discomfort, feeling the blow off the skiddy fast bouncer from his team’s young right-arm seamer.
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But Babar eventually won the battle against Naseem by quickly regaining his composure and timing at the crease, hitting the pacer for a maximum over long-off. The delivery was only marginally over-pitched, but Babar got underneath it and played a great shot that would’ve fetched him a six in the game scenario.
🎤🆙 When it was @babarazam258 🆚 @iNaseemShah in the nets in Karachi 🔊🤩#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/axXC1py6Zj
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) September 27, 2022
The quality of the stroke could be felt in its timing, with the sound reverberating around an empty Gaddafi Stadium that will be buzzing from all corners come the Wednesday night when Pakistan strive to take a lead in the T20I series against England.
The seven-match series is levelled 2-2 at the end of its Karachi leg.
