PAK vs NED | Twitter in awe as Babar's brilliance helps reproduce SKY's finale classic alongwith Afridi

Gantavya Adukia

ByGantavya Adukia,SportsCafe Editor

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Pakistan cricket and fielding have been synonymous with each other since time immemorial, and not in a positive way for the Men in Green. Yet, the standards seem to have improved of late, and Babar Azam decided to prove the point in the T20 World Cup opener against the Netherlands in Colombo.

Pakistan won the toss in the T20 World Cup 2026 curtain raiser at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Saturdya and put Netherlands in to bat first on a green-looking deck uncharacteristic of the host nation. Nevertheless, the Dutch got off to a flying start courtesy of opener Michael Levitt, the youngster unfetterred to play his shots as he smashed new-ball bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Salman Mirza for a maximum and three boundariesĀ in the first half of the powerplay itself. His partner Max O'Dowd watched on from the other end, and his attempt at joining the party in the fourth over ended in demise but the danger man remained out there for the Men in Green. Enter Babar Azam.

Skipper Salman Agha Ali introduced Mohammad Nawaz into the attack in the fifth over and the spinner found himself head-to-head against Levitt immediately. The 22-year-old batter shaped up for a slog sweep first upĀ but Nawaz read his movements and defied the plan to gain a moral victory. With his next effort, Nawaz went full and straight but this time Levitt waitedĀ as long as possible before making a big shuffle to his left to create room, andĀ went down on one knee to slog the ball straight down the ground. The Kookaburra seemed to be destined to go the distance when BabarĀ came steaming across from long-on and managed to get to the ball just in time, grabbing it with both hands when still in momentum. However, theĀ boundary ropes were just a step away, forcing Babar to show incredible presence of mind as he immediately launched the ball high in the air again to allow Shaheen AfridiĀ at mid-on enough time to get back and complete the relay catch.

The duo was ecstatic at pulling off a memorable grab as early as day one of the tournament, much to Twitterati's delight too.

What a catch!

Let's see!

Yeah!

Take a bow!

Relay catch!

Blinder!Ā 

Superb!

Unreal catch!

Nice!

Yes!

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