R Ashwin brands Babar Azam as 'tortoise' for his labored innings in Pakistan's failed chase against New Zealand

Ravichandran Ashwin made a controversial comment about Babar Azam's performance in Pakistan's Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand. Ashwin referred to Babar as a 'tortoise' due to his slow knock that ultimately hurt Pakistan's chances of winning the match at the National Stadium in Karachi. Babar, who was playing in his first ICC event at home, struggled to find his rhythm and his sluggish half-century ended up doing more harm than good for Pakistan in their high-stakes run chase. Adding to Pakistan's woes, regular opener Fakhar Zaman was unable to bat at the top of the order due to an injury sustained early in the match.

The new opening pair of Babar and Saud Shakeel showed very little intent in the powerplay. Shakeel was dismissed by Will O'Rourke in the fourth over. Babar's struggles, however, had only started. He could get the scoreboard moving and hit just two boundaries in the first powerplay. Pakistan also lost the wicket of captain Mohammad Rizwan to end the powerplay at 22/2 - the lowest score by any team in the Champions Trophy.

Babar and Fakhar Zaman put on a brief partnership of 47 runs but that too came from 65 balls. It didn't help Pakistan and Babar's cause that Fakhar was not able to run properly because of the injury.

The only time Pakistan looked to make some attempt at going for the target was when Salman Ali Agha batted in the middle. The right-hander smashed 42 off 28 balls, scoring at a strike rate of 150 with the help of six fours and a six to give some hope to the local fans but it was soon dashed once he was dismissed all-rounder Nathan Smith in the 31st over.

In the 56-run stand, Salman scored 42 of 28 while Babar struggled at the other end, playing 31 balls for 14 runs. Taking note of the chalk-and-cheese nature of the partnership, Ashwin said it was the perfect depiction of the tortoise and rabbit story

"Babar’s journey to 50 coupled with Salman Ali Agha’s batting has to be the best depiction of “ The Tortoise and Rabbit story” #ChampionsTrophy. The 50 I hope will come soon enough" he wrote on X.

Babar finally reached his half-century off 81 balls and showed first signs of taking the attack to New Zealand. He scored 14 runs off 8 balls that also included a six. He wanted to hit another one out of the park off New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner but got a top edge to get dismissed for a laborious 64 off 90 deliveries that only included six boundaries.

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