Babar Azam has once again set the bar pretty high for a cricket captain by displaying one of the highest forms of sportsmanship — making sure his teammate Khushdil Shah gets credit for his match-winning performance.
On Thursday, Shah stepped into a sinking boat of a match against the West Indies and turned the opening ODI of the three-match series around. Having started the over needing 44 off 24, Shah’s hitting saw them end it needing 24 off 18. His 23-ball 41 not out overshadowed all the other players’ performances.
This was not lost on Azam, who, when awarded the Man of the Match prize, decided to hand it over to Shah, someone he thought was more deserving.
ESPN posted the moment on Twitter, praising the captain.
Shah thanked God for the success in the first ODI and credited the “great team work”. He tagged Azam and appreciated him for keeping the foundation strong as it is what enabled the win. “Insha Allah Pakistan will keep performing wonderfully in the next matches as well,” he tweeted.
Player Shadab Khan also took a moment to appreciate both players who stood out. Addressing the captain he said, “I pray that you always keep scoring centuries like this and stay young, that Khushdil keeps hitting sixers and we keep improving in our efforts.”
Azam was appreciated by netizens for this gesture. They hailed him as the “best captain in the world” who’s going around “winning hearts”. Twitter users also felt like Shah really deserved the title of the player of the match. People really appreciated the gesture.