The 2023 edition of England’s one-of-its-kind league, The Hundred, will kickstart with Trent Rockets taking on Southern Brave in the opening game on August 01. Ahead of the commencement of the exciting competition, the players’ draft took place on Thursday, March 23 where several familiar names were picked.
Pakistan’s fast bowling duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf were roped in by Welsh Fire. Not to mention, Shaheen recently led Lahore Qalandars to their second consecutive title in Pakistan Super League.
However, many international stars got ignored in the draft process, and one of them was Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. The Lahore-born cricketer finished PSL 2023 as the second-highest run-scorer, smashing 522 runs at an impressive average of 55.20 in 11 matches, including one hundred and five half-centuries.
Despite having an eye-catching record in the shortest format, Babar was not picked in The Hundred. Following this, quite a few fans came in support of the Pakistani cricketer, while many took this opportunity to troll Babar.
Here is how netizens reacted:
Meanwhile Babar fans who claimed he is better than Virat to Babar when he went unsold
— Sarcastic Cowboy (@SarcasticCowboy)
Meet Babar Azam??
Just to make him a "bRaNd", PCB and their Bikau journalists hype him daily by doing illogical comparisons with Virat Kohli??
Dear PCB, World appreciates the talent, not the "Hype"
Babar went unsold, Eagle & Rauf went for £100K and £60K in the Hundred draft??
— ???????? (@Noor_Marriiii)
100 ball to Babar ko akele chaiye fifty banane ke liye ?
— Bhupender Thakur (@MisterBeeTee)
//twitter.com/_Cricpedia/status/1639131587475554306
Let’s take a moment and laugh on Babar Azam ??????
— Sir BoiesX (@BoiesX45)
Babar Azam batting techniques is taught in England
But The "Hundred" draft didn't pick the biggest brand of Pakistan
Pick level comedy ???
— Ash (@Ashsay_)
well whole Pakistan Hyped up Babar Azam in the Hundred draft and guy went unsold lol??
— Hanzala (@HanzalaAfaq)
The Hundred after using Babar Azam's name for promotion:
— Abdullah (@michaelscottfc)
Some Players Goes Unsold in The Hundred League Draft for 1 Time while Babar Azam Gone Unsold in all 3 Drafts happened in The Hundred League ?
— ?????™ (@Retired_ICTIAN)
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan unsold in The Hundred Draft. ??
No one rates these so called best batsmen. ?— ??????? ???? ? (@imtheguy07)
//twitter.com/45_rohit0/status/1638963645882200065
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan unsold in The Hundred Draft. ??
Biggest Stats Padders in World Cricket has no respect outside Pakistan
— Ash (@Ashsay_)
//twitter.com/sachitbhatia/status/1639125073758937088
King Babar Azam remains Unsold in 'The Hundred' Draft.
— Over Thinker Lawyer (6-0) (@Mujha_q_Nakala)
Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan have gone unsold in The Hundred. Big win for T20 cricket
— ParteekNotPrateek (@randomcricfacts)
so once again Babar Azam went unsold in the hundred draft lmfaoooo???
— zayn (@ZaynMahmood5)
Babar azam unpicked in The Hundred ?
— Ugma (@ugma_ram_)
//twitter.com/hyperKohli/status/1638960289482964993
Apart from Babar, his teammate Mohammad Rizwan also couldn’t find any buyer in the English tournament. Similarly, Bangladesh’s all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, West Indies superstar Kieron Pollard and Australian pair of Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa were not picked as well.
Notably, Babar has played 95 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 99 T20 Internationals (T20Is) for Pakistan, in which he has scored 4813 and 3355 runs. The right-handed batter has 17 hundreds to his name in the 50-over format alongwith 24 half-centuries. When it comes to the shortest format, Babar has smashed two hundreds and has 30 fifties to his credit.
