Cricket World Cup 2023

Watch: Babar Azam gifts jersey to Hyderabad ground staff after two-week campaign at venue ends

by Sarah Waris October 11, 2023 - 10:22am 2 minute read

Watch: Babar Azam gifted a Pakistan jersey to the ground staff at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Hyderabad after their win against Sri Lanka in the 2023 World Cup on October 10 (Tuesday).

Pakistan played four games, including two warm-ups, at the stadium, wrapping up their campaign in Hyderabad with a resounding record-breaking win against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Before flying out to Ahmedabad for the big game against India, their captain Babar Azam gifted the ground staff at the venue the team’s jersey and posed for pictures with them.

Pakistan landed in Hyderabad on September 27 and played warm-up games against New Zealand and Australia. Their first World Cup match was against the Netherlands, which they won. Pakistan also gunned down 345 against Sri Lanka, the most successful chase in World Cup history. Babar’s gesture of meeting the ground staff after the game was an appreciation of their efforts over the last two weeks.

Mohammad Rizwan, who scored a career-best 131 not out against Sri Lanka, also credited the pitch curator at the post-match press conference: “When we got to the ground for the first time, he said, ‘Rizwan, you must hit two hundreds on this ground’. I met him today as well. We can pray for him and you should pray for him too.”