"Best depiction of the tortoise and Rabbit story" - R Ashwin trolls Babar Azam's sluggish knock in PAK vs NZ 2025 Champions Trophy clash

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin trolled Babar Azam’s sluggish batting display in the Champions Trophy 2025 opener between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday, February 19. Ashwin's sarcastic remarks came moments before Babar reached his half-century off 81 deliveries at a strike rate of 61.728, including 49 dot balls.

Babar kept batting slowly despite the Men in Green chasing 321. On the other hand, his batting partner Agha Salman smashed a quickfire 42 runs off 28 balls at a strike rate of 150. He helped keep the required rate in check. The contrasting performances reminded Ashwin of the famous ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’ story. The 38-year-old wrote on X:

“Babar’s journey to 50 coupled with Salman Ali Agha’s batting has to be the best depiction of 'The Tortoise and Rabbit story'. #ChampionsTrophy.”

“The 50 I hope will come soon enough,” he added.

This is not the first time an ex-cricketer has criticized Babar for his patchy strike rate in a run chase. Earlier, former South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs had called out Babar on X for scoring 47 off 51 balls against New Zealand. It came in the 2023 ODI World Cup when rain interrupted play. The erstwhile PSL franchise Karachi Kings coach wrote on X:

“Can someone tell Babar they chasing 400 ...”

In that match, Babar Azam stayed unbeaten 66 off 63 balls. Fakhar Zaman scored a quickfire 126* off 81 balls to ensure that the Men in Green won the game by 21 runs via the DLS method.

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Babar Azam departs for 64; Pakistan on the brink of a heavy defeat in the Champions Trophy 2025 opener

Babar Azam perished after scoring 64 runs off 90 balls at a strike rate of 71.11, including one maximum and six boundaries. With the wicket, the defending champions Pakistan are on the verge of a big loss in their opening game of the Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.

At the time of writing, the hosts were 187/6 after 38.2 overs, with Khusdil Shah and Shaheen Afridi at the crease.

Batting first, the Kiwis posted 320/5. Tom Latham and Will Young scored 118 (104) and 107 off 113 deliveries, respectively.

Follow the PAK vs NZ Champions Trophy 2025 live score and updates here.