Defeating India in T20 World Cup was the best moment for Pakistan in 2021: Babar Azam

Babar Azam has termed the Pakistan’s victory over India in the T20 World Cup as a “fantastic moment”. Pakistan, who had never previously won against India at the World Cups, snapped a 12-match losing streak as they rolled over India, defeating their arch-rivals by 10 wickets in a sheer one-sided encounter.

Before that, Pakistan lost to India seven times in ODI World Cups and five times in T20 World Cups. However, in 2021, Babar Azam and Co. changed that trend and continued to dominate every side than face, as they stormed into the semi-final remaining invincible in the Super12s with five wins.

“It was a fantastic achievement for us as a team because we had not been able to beat India in the World Cups for so many years. It was our best moment of the year,” Babar was quoted by the Hindu.

“The biggest satisfaction was seeing young talent come through for us at crucial times. It is good we are now producing young talent,” he pointed out.

Semi-final defeat against Australia hurt me the most: Babar Azam

While Pakistan’s ominous form led many to bill them as one of the chief title contenders, their journey came to a heart-breaking end when Australia knocked them out in the semi-final. Babar admitted that the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow, given the way the team performed throughout the group stage.

“That defeat hurt me the most this year because we had been playing so well and as a combined unit,” he said.

The year 2021 proved to be a prolific one for the Pakistan skipper personally too, as he tallied 939 runs in 26 innings at a decent average and strike rate of 37.57 and 127.58 respectively, including nine half-centuries and a solitary century.

Babar stood only behind his compatriot and opening partner Mohammad Rizwan in the list of top run-getters of the format in 2021. Rizwan slammed 1326 runs in the same number of innings as Babar, at an impressive 73.66 and 134.89, with 12 half-centuries and a century.

On being asked about his form, Babar stated he enjoyed those whenever they led Pakistan to win games.