Babar Azam's furious reaction after an exchange with batting partner Steve Smith went viral on social media. Azam opened the batting with Steve Smith in Sydney Sixers' clash against the Sydney Thunder in the BBL clash on Friday. The duo put on a 141-run stand, but it was not without drama.
During the chase, Azam hit the final ball of the 11th over to long on for a single. However, Smith denied the strike change wanting to hold onto the strike and try and clear the fence during the power surge. Babar was clearly unhappy and offended even as Smith justified the decision with a 32-run over. The very next ball Azam faced, he chopped it on the stumps ending his 39-ball stay.
Azam was absolutely livid and walked off without even looking at Steve Smith. He smashed his bat into the boundary cushion, visibly upset at how the events unfolded at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
Smith later explained the thinking behind denying the strike to Babar by turning down the single.
"So we spoke at the 10-over mark and they said, take the Surge straight away. I was like, no, give it one over. I want to hit to the short boundary and I don't want to screw up the first over. And I looked to try and get 30 off that over. I think we got 32. So it's a good result. I'm not sure Babar was too happy with me knocking back that single though," he said after the game.
