Babar Azam's T20I return turns nightmare, left devastated in dressing room after duck in first 2026 World Cup audition

Playing his first T20I game since December 2024, which was also incidentally against the Proteas, Babar walked in at No. 3 after the dismissal of Sahibzada Farhan on the penultimate ball of the fifth over. He was cheered loudly by the capacity crowd as he walked out to bat, needing nine runs to break former India captain Rohit Sharma’s all-time record of 4,231 runs in T20I cricket.

In the following over, Corbin Bosch dished out a pacy length delivery on off. Looking to get off the mark, Babar wanted to go across the line, but the delivery took the thick outer half of the bat and flew straight towards Reeza Hendricks at cover. The entire Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium was left shell-shocked as the former Pakistan captain fell for a duck on his return to the T20I side.

A visual from the broadcasters later showed that Babar was left devastated in the dressing room after the dismissal, having lost the first opportunity to validate his credentials for the T20 World Cup, and vindicate head coach Mike Hesson's backing, who was instrumental in his return to the T20I side. Pakistan had recalled Babar at No. 3 for the series after giving Fakhar Zaman rest to gear up for next month’s ODI series against the Proteas.

This was the eighth time Babar was dismissed for a duck in T20I cricket, as he went past former India captain Virat Kohli's unwanted feat (7). Among Pakistan batters, that is the third-most after Umar Akmal (10) and Saim Ayub (9).

South Africa set a 195-run target after opener Reeza Hendricks scored 60 off 40 balls and George Linde added 36 off 22. Pakistan’s chase never gained momentum, losing two wickets in the first six overs, and they eventually went down by 55 runs to trail 0-1 in the series.

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