Watch: Babar Azam sent down an over of off-spin during day three of Pakistan’s warm-up match with Prime Ministers XI in Canberra on Friday (December 8).

Azam, who has seven first-class wickets, bowled an over of off-spin in the practice game, conceding a solitary run. He came on to bowl the 54th over of Prime Ministers XI’s first innings to Cameron Green, with the regular bowlers failing to make an impact.

Babar’s bowling stint was praised by the commentators and he was also encouraged by wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who kept shouting “Nice Bob”, his nickname in the team.

Sarfaraz also asked Babar to bowl fuller after the third ball, which is what the bowler attempted to do on the next delivery. It prompted another round of advice from Sarfaraz, who shouted, “Aise pheke, idhar udhar na pheke, aage pheke [Spin it like this. Do not bowl here and there, just keep bowling full].”

The commentators too chipped in by saying Babar was getting plenty of turn after the fourth ball that turned away after pitching on the leg stump.

Babar recently stepped down as Test captain despite PCB’s insistence that he carry on as leader in the format. He was replaced as white-ball skipper after the ODI World Cup, with Shaheen Afridi taking over as T20I skipper. Shan Masood will lead the Test side.

Watch Babar Azam bowling here:

Crowd’s chants went up as Babar Azam reached the bowling crease!👑#BabarAzam𓃵 #AUSvsPAK pic.twitter.com/ntJlws1oqC

— Ahad (@thisAhadd) December 7, 2023

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