Babar Azam Gets Virat Kohli-Like Reception In Multan As Asia Cup Returns To Pakistan After 15 Years

Multan: Babar Azam received a Virat Kohli-like reception at the Multan Cricket Ground against Nepal on Wednesday as the Asia Cup returned to Pakistan for the first time after 2008. The Asia Cup 2023 will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. While Pakistan will host four games, Sri Lanka will be hosting the remaining nine matches including the final on September 17.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat. The Men in Green had earlier announced their playing XI on Tuesday. Babar said there is no extra pressure of playing at home and the players just want to enjoy ‘our cricket and give our best’.

Nepal made a great start with Karan KC removing Fakhar Zaman in the sixth over. That brought Babar on the pitch. As Babar walked into the pitch, the whole crowd erupted giving him a rousing reception. Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq soon after but after that the hosts steadied the ship.

Multan crowd welcoming Babar Azam.#PAKvsNep | #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/E0rr1KQPJl

— Ehtisham Siddique (@iMShami_) August 30, 2023

Earlier, Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel said on their Asia Cup debut that his players were happy to be playing on the big stage. “The players and people (are) happy as it’s their first Asia Cup game. We are used to these conditions, it’s a beautiful wicket to bat on,” he added.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.

Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (w), Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.