Nasser Hussain poked fun at Babar Azam on air after the Pakistan captain’s DRS referral was shown to be misguided during the Bangladesh-Pakistan World Cup 2023 match on October 31.

Haris Rauf was also partly to blame, persuading his captain to go upstairs despite his visible reluctance. The fast bowler had hit Mahmudullah on the leg in his second over, but it looked high from the outset, only clipping the top flap of the pad, with Hussain proclaiming “No, Babar” as the skipper made the review signal.

The ball tracker confirmed that there was no bat involved and that the impact was in line, but it was going over the leg stump, robbing Pakistan of a review. Babar looked unhappy as he was not impressed with the Rauf’s antics.

Hussain drew parallels with Shane Watson, on commentary with him at the time, and Stuart Broad, infamous for wasting numerous reviews during their playing days. “A combination of Stuart Broad and Shane Watson,” he quipped.

Earlier, Shaheen Shah Afridi drew first blood for Pakistan, taking out Tanzid Hasan for a duck in the first over. An over later, he struck again, scalping the wicket of Najmul Hasan Shanto. Bangladesh were reeling at 23-3 after Rauf sent Mushfiqur Rahim packing for five runs. A 79-run stand between Litton Das and Mahmudullah steadied the ship before the former was out for 45, with Bangladesh’s score at 128-4 after 30 overs.

Pakistan entered this contest after four straight losses to India, South Africa, Australia and Afghanistan and need to win to have a realistic chance of making the semi-finals. Bangladesh would be officially knocked out if beaten.

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