Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam congratulated Australia after Pat Cummins’ men defeated India on Sunday to lift the ICC World Cup 2023 trophy in Ahmedabad on Sunday. After putting India to bat first, Australia were exceptional in the field and with the ball. Barring Rohit Sharma’s (47) flamboyance in the beginning and half-centuries each from Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66), Indian batters found it hard to get going against the Aussie attack, posting a below-par score of 240 in the grand finale.
Australia had a shaky start and lost their first three men in quick succession to the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. After being reduced to 47/3, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne build a mammoth 192-run partnership – one that would eventually take Australia to their sixth glorious ODI World Cup win.
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Head scored a ruthless and sublime 137 while Labuschagne added a watchful 58 to the total. In the end, India were outdone by a brilliant Australia who won the game comfortably by 6 wickets and 7 overs to spare.
Congratulatory messages from all around the world poured in for Australia dominating amid the sea of blue. One of these wishes that caught the attention of fans were from Pakistan’s former skipper Babar Azam who took to his Instagram and wrote: “Congratulations @CricketAus. What a commanding performance in the final.”
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While Azam’s wish was well-intentioned, fans wondered if the Pakistan cricketer had finally avenged Virat Kohli’s congratulatory post for England last year.
Thanks babar for giving it back. pic.twitter.com/H7MR8KbEsc— Ahsan (@ahsann_01) November 19, 2023
Babar did that fr pic.twitter.com/8kttUfoEdt— Sara (@sara_pirzadaa) November 19, 2023
congratulations babar, well played. pic.twitter.com/PypsjIRE8B— ._amir (@caffeinexher) November 19, 2023
Back in 2022, Jos Buttler’s England defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets to become only the team to win two T20 world titles after the West Indies. England outclassed Pakistan across departments with their all-round performance. After England’s win, Kohli, the highest scorer of the T20 World Cup 2022, had congratulated England on a terrific victory.
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Coming back to ICC World Cup 2023, Virat Kohli ended the tournament as the highest run-scorer of the tournament. Kohli piled up a record 765 runs that included six fifties and three classy centuries.
