The Pakistan cricket team defeated West Indies by 120 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series on the night of 10 June 2022. With this win, they also took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Pakistan won the first ODI of the series by 5 wickets. Both the ODI matches were played at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. The third ODI will be played there on 12 June 2022.
Here we are talking about an act of Babar Azam in the second ODI, after seeing which it seems that he does not have proper knowledge of the rules of cricket. Babar Azam stopped the ball wearing a glove in the 29th over of the second ODI. Perhaps that glove must have belonged to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
However, in the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct, fielding while wearing a fielder’s glove comes under the category of offense. The entire Pakistan team had to bear the brunt of this act of Babar Azam. The umpires deducted 5 runs from his total. The picture of Babar Azam wearing a glove and catching the ball is viral on social media. You can also see that picture below.
Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam fields the ball wearing a glove in one hand during the second ODI against West Indies. (Source- Twitter)
It was 28 overs of West Indies’ innings. The match was completely in the hands of Pakistan. West Indies’ score was 131 for 7 wickets. Mohammad Nawaz brings the 29th over. On his first ball, Alzarri Joseph played towards the leg side and ran for a run. Meanwhile, Babar Azam fields the ball but makes a big mistake. He used a glove from wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan to stop the ball. He was wearing a glove in his right hand.
What does ICC rule say?
According to Law 28.1 of Cricket, no fielder, except the wicket-keeper, shall be permitted to wear gloves or an outside leg guard. Along with this, if anything is to be worn to protect the hands or fingers, then the approval of the umpires will have to be taken for that too. The fielder can wear that thing only after the approval of the umpires.
In the second one-day international match played at Multan Cricket Stadium, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. Batting first, he scored 275 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs. Chasing the target, the entire West Indies team was bundled out for 155 runs in 32.2 overs.
Mohammad Nawaz bowled the best of his career after impressive half-centuries from Babar Azam (93 balls, 77 runs, 5 fours, 1 six) and Imam-ul-Haq (72 balls, 72 runs, 6 fours). He took 4 wickets for 19 runs in 10 overs.
Apart from them, Mohammad Wasim Jr took 3 wickets for 34 runs in 4.2 overs. Shadab Khan showed the way to the pavilion to 2 batsmen for 40 runs in 9 overs. Shaheen Afridi managed to take one wicket for 17 runs in 4 overs. Shaheen Afridi remained unbeaten on 15 runs in 6 balls during the batting.
For West Indies, Kyle Meyers (25 balls, 33 runs, 4 fours, 2 sixes), Shamrah Brooks (56 balls, 42 runs, 4 fours, one six), Captain Nicholas Pooran (36 balls, 25 runs, one four), One six), Rovman Powell (10 balls, 10 runs) and Akil Hossain (21 balls, 14 runs) could only touch the double figure.
The win lifted the Babar Azam-led Pakistan cricket team from 10th place to fourth in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League. Pakistan and West Indies both have 80 points each, but in terms of net run-rate, they are ahead of the two-time former world champions.