Babar Azam faced heat from all corners as Pakistan found themselves on the brink of elimination in the Champions Trophy 225 after a disastrous 60-run defeat in the opening match of the tournament against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Chasing a big total of 321, Pakistan were reliant on a quick start with the onus on Babar Azam after Fakhar Zaman was not able to open the batting due to being off the field for a long time due to an injury concern. The Men in Green made just 22 runs in the powerplay, which is the third-lowest in the Champions Trophy history. It is also the least runs any home team in the first 10 overs of an ODI game in an ICC event.

Babar got his half-century and ultimately departed after making 64 runs in 90 balls which included six boundaries and one six. The former Pakistan captain played at a strike rate of 71.1 and played 52 dot balls in his innings.

Babar Azam faces heat from all corners as cricket fans from across the globe were critical of him. Many questioned his stature as one of the top players in the world, while he was also labelled 'selfish' by many. Indian cricket legend Ravichandran Ashwin seemingly took a sly dig at him while praising Agha Salman by invoking a 'Tortoise-Rabbit' analogy.

Babar Azam Sets Multiple Unwanted Records

Despite Fakhar Zaman's spirited effort and quick-fire knocks from Agha Salman and Khushdil Shah, the hosts could not recover from the damage at the start and found themselves on the brink of elimination from the first ICC tournament they are hosting in 29 years. Babar did not hit a single boundary between 15.6 and 32.1 despite facing 45 balls in the period.

While the Champions Trophy started in a completely different era of ODI cricket in 1998, among players to make 60 or more runs in a run chase in the history of the competition, Babar's knock is the fifth slowest in a losing cause. The 30-year-old had the second worst strike-rate while chasing in a lost match.

Babar has the fourth-worst scoring rate among Pakistan players to score a half-century in the Champions Trophy. His strike rate is the second-worst in a losing cause behind Nasir Jamshed (53.76 vs West Indies, 2013 at Oval) and the worst while in a losing cause while chasing.

Among home team players in Champions Trophy history, Babar made the eight slowest half-centuries and had the third-worst scoring rate in a run chase. Babar's knock is the slowest half-century in the tournament while batting second in a losing cause by a home team batter. Only three host nation players made slower half-centuries than Babar in the Champions Trophy while batting first in a match their team lost.

However, this was only the fifth slowest half-century of Babar Azam's ODI career.

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