All the team captains celebrated Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s 28th birthday after they addressed a joint press conference in Melbourne ahead of the T20 World Cup.
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Australia captain Aaron Finch surprised Babar Azam with the birthday cake while the Pakistani skipper was having a conversation with Scotland’s Richie Berrington.
Special guests for the birthday of 🇵🇰 ©️! 🎊😊
We invited all the team captains at the @T20WorldCup to celebrate Babar Azam’s birthday 🎂🙌 pic.twitter.com/WZFzYXywsO
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— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 15, 2022
Pakistan will open their World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23.
The jinx of not beating India in a World Cup game in any format ended last year when Babar and Rizwan led Pakistan to a massive 10-wicket win during the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
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Pakistan qualified for the semifinals after winning all five of its group games before eventually faltering against Australia.
Babar is the only sixth batter in the world to surpass 3,000 T20 International runs despite having a below-par Asia Cup in the UAE, where he only tallied 68 runs in six games. But he quickly returned to form against England with a century at Karachi and an unbeaten 87 at Lahore.
Babar was the top run-getter in last year’s T20 World Cup with 303 runs in six games. He set the tone of Pakistan’s unbeaten run in the group stage with a brilliant half-century in the opening game against India and equalled the record of India’s Virat Kohli and Matthew Hayden to score four half centuries in a single edition of the tournament.
