• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Tu Match Winner Hai Babar Azams Faith For Mohammad Nawaz Stands True Till Today

"Tu Match Winner Hai": Babar Azam's Faith For Mohammad Nawaz Stands True Till Today

Soumyajit Dutta

Babar Azam and Mohammad Nawaz [Source: @ShoaibK81606612/X.com]Babar Azam and Mohammad Nawaz [Source: @ShoaibK81606612/X.com]

Once a wise man said, "Nawaz, koi masla nahi hai, tu match winner hai mera aur humesha mera tujhpe belief rahega jo marji ho jaye," and it seems to have been true after all. The wise man here is Babar Azam, speaking of Mohammad Nawaz in the dressing room of Pakistan back during the T20 World Cup 2022 after the match with India on October 23.

Nawaz, who didn't have great outings in that T20 World Cup campaign, returned with figures of 2-42 and 1-12 while bagging a total of 3 wickets from 4 matches at an expensive economy rate of 7.44. However, Babar's 'match-winner' comment rings true today as Mohammad Nawaz scripted a historic comeback for Pakistan in the recently concluded UAE Tri-Series.

Old Clip Of Babar Showing Faith On Nawaz Goes Viral

An old clip of Babar Azam pumping up the Men in Green in the dressing room from 2022 is now going viral over the internet, as Nawaz has at last secured Azam's prophecy by being the match-winner he is. While Azam was trying to instil confidence inside the 3-year-younger Nawaz, who was having a dismal performance, Nawaz proved to be the match-winner he is.

In the UAE Tri-Series final between Afghanistan and Pakistan in September at Sharjah, Nawaz scalped a fifer to defend Pakistan's 142 as Afghanistan was bundled out for just 66 runs. Alongside a maiden, Nawaz also had a controlled economy rate of only 4.75 from his 4 overs. 

Nawaz significantly bagged a hat-trick too, which etched his name in the history books. Nawaz first got hold of Darwish Rasooli in the fifth ball of the 6th over and got Azmatullah Omarzai on the very next ball. Continuing his hat-trick ball, he took Ibrahim Zadran in the very first ball of the 8th over to complete his hat-trick.

While Nawaz stood true to Babar's faith in the UAE Tri-Series final, Babar himself didn't have a shiny performance in the T20 World Cup. From his 7 innings, he bagged 124 runs at a poor average of 17.71 and a dismal strike rate of 93.23. His only significant knock of 53 runs came against New Zealand in the semi-final, which helped Pakistan advance to the final.