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Shaheen Afridi Teased Babar Azam With Calm Yet Superior Celebration In Clash Of Titans

Akshita Patel

Shaheen Afridi teases Babar Azam [Source: @championscuppcb/X.com]Shaheen Afridi teases Babar Azam [Source: @championscuppcb/X.com]

In September 2024, Pakistan's two current star cricketers Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi had quite the epic battle in the Champions One-Day contest. Afridi dismissed Babar on 76 runs and executed his signature hands-in-the-air celebration to taunt his opposite.

The Stallions were competing against the Lions in a high-voltage 2024 Champions One-Day Cup game. Babar, struggling to get runs since the poor Test series against Bangladesh, slammed a gritty fifty.

Batting at 76 off 78 balls, the star batter faced Lions’ ace pacer Shaheen Afridi, thus igniting an epic face-off.

Shaheen Afridi Beat Babar Azam In Heated Face-Off

But the highlight of the match was the dramatic moment when Shaheen Afridi dismissed Babar Azam. The batter executed a poorly timed pull shot off Shaheen’s short ball and holed it to deep square leg for a regulation catch.

After taking the wicket, Shaheen celebrated in style with his iconic pose, something fans associate with him and his father-in-law, Shahid Afridi. Babar, meanwhile, put his head down and walked back to the pavilion in disappointment.

Champions One-Day cup tweet [Source: @championscuppcb/X.com]Champions One-Day cup tweet [Source: @championscuppcb/X.com]

However, Babar Azam had the last laugh. His team, the Stallions, beat the Lions by a commanding margin of 133 runs, and Babar was also named Player of the Match for his match-winning half-century. 

On the other side, only Imam-ul-Haq showed some fight for the Lions with a score of 78 off 83 balls.

That being said, despite impressive performance in domestic tournaments, both Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi were dropped from white-ball sides due to prolonged poor form. In the present day, the star duo is struggling to stay relevant in international cricket, with Pakistan being nowhere in terms of competitiveness.