Australian captain Pat Cummins spoke about the delivery that dismissed Babar Azam on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test at MCG. The visitors after the end of the day’s play reached 194/6 in their first innings in response to Australia’s 318.
Australia were bowled out for 318 in what was a better bowling display by the Pakistan players on Day 2. The players shared the wickets between themselves with Shaheen Afridi, Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali taking two each and Aamer Jamal taking three .
When it was Pakistan’s turn to bat, they had a quiet start with the first wicket falling in the 34th over, which was that of Imam-Ul-Haq (10). Abdullah Shafique (62) and captain Shan Masood (54) then added a 92-run stand to bring Pakistan back into the game.
However, it was Pat Cummins’ three-wicket spell, including two in consecutive overs, that put Pakistan on the defensive. He first dismissed Shafique with a superb catch on the follow-through of him and then bowled a dream delivery by himself admitting that he dismissed Babar Azam.
Watch – Pat Cummins Castle Babar Azam with an unplayable delivery
INCREDIBLE!
Pat Cummins gets rid of Babar Azam again, with another BEAUTY! #OhWhatAFeeling @Toyota_Aus #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/iXQ6M7E10l
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 27, 2023
It was a tough blow for Pakistan, which was shaken after a good start. The ball that dismissed Babar Azam was a beauty from a Pat Cummins delivery. The ball darted off off stump and came back after the delivery and pierced Babar’s defences. There was a large gap between the ball and his pads and the ball managed to sneak through that gap and hit the top.
Babar, who was facing the shot, had no idea how the ball managed to get past his defence. There was a look of utter disbelief in his step. The former Pakistan captain thought he had covered the line, but it turned out not to be the case. The two consecutive wickets slowed down Pakistan’s running pace and they did not end up with too many on the stumps.
After the day’s play, Pat Cummins spoke about the delivery that dismissed Babar Azam and shared his thoughts on it. He admitted that it was a dream delivery that rarely comes true.
“It’s a dream ball; That’s what is attempted in most balls, but it rarely turns out well. Really happy with that one. That was not a deliberate ball to fit. That’s 50-50 whether you close in or out,” Cummins said.
Going deeper into the throw, Cummins said he tried to create an angle waiting for the ball to come back after the throw. He expected Babar to be clueless about the same and in the end it turned out exactly like that for him to celebrate.
“I try to create a little angle, and if I don’t know what he’s doing, I hope the hitter doesn’t know either. The swing is a little more predictable: the hitter sees it a little sooner and the margins are a little smaller. I try to swing some, but it’s weird; most of the time, I try to get a bit of seam off the wicket.” Pat Cummins concluded by saying.
Heading into Day 3, Pakistan are still trailing by 124 runs with six more wickets to go. They are on a 15-match losing streak in Test matches on Australian soil in search of a Test victory in Australia.
Also Read: PAK vs AUS: Pakistan create embarrassing record in Test innings at MCG
