Pakistan captain Babar Azam shared a wholesome moment with a boy during the T20 World Cup matches against India and Canada at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York. Pakistan started their campaign in Dallas, Texas, where they suffered a shock defeat to the USA and then moved to New York for their next two matches against India and Canada. That is where the boy attracted Babar’s attention.
Babar said he first met the boy during the match against India. He noticed him crying during the national anthem and tried to comfort him. “I met this kid during the India vs Pakistan match. After the anthem, he came to me and started crying. I got worried. I asked if anyone said anything to him. Then he said he is a fan,” Babar told presenter Sanjana Ganeshan in an interview for ICC.
The Pakistan captain said the boy did the same thing in the match against Canada. “He did the same thing today (against Canada). He was standing in the line and crying. We all have experienced this. When you meet a star, the excitement is at a different level.”
When Sanjana, who is also the wife of India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, asked about his gesture of gifting his gloves to the kid, Babar said: “I thought if he is such a big fan then I should also have some responsibility to give him something as a gift. Something memorable. I had my gloves in my hands. I gave him that. He got very excited and started crying even more. I told him not to worry. Then, while crying, he requested me to sign it,” Babar added.
Babar Azam was relieved to have logged their first win in the T20 World Cup on Tuesday, and said they couldn’t complete their chase of 107 in lesser number of overs because of a difficult pitch.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats against USA and India in their first two Group A matches, the game against Canada was a must-win tie for Pakistan.
Chasing a modest target, Pakistan rode on Mohammad Rizwan’s run-a-ball unbeaten 53 and Babar’s 33 to get over the line in 17.3 overs.
“Good for us, we need this win. We started well with the bowling, in the first six overs we know we had to be up to the mark,” Babar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
