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 na🍌mes 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. T𒉰he 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.
Despite𓄧 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&q♏uot;
Babar went unsold, Eagle & Rauf went for £100K and £60K🦹 in the Hundred draft🙏🏻
— 🇵🇰 Muhammad Noor 🇵🇰 (@Noor_Marriiii)
100 ball to B꧟abar🍬 ko akele chaiye fifty banane ke liye 😁
— Bhupender Thakur (@MisterBeeTee)
Babar Azam – The Unsold Story 😂
On the same day he is awarded sitara-e imtiaz , there isn't any team willing to take Babar azam for The Hundred League.
What a Shame , Big Embarrassment
— Cricpedia. (@_Cricpedia)
Let’s🥃 take a moment and laugh on Babar Azam 🤣🤣��🤣🤣🤣
— Sir BoiesX 🕯 (@BoiesX45)
Babar Azam batting techniqueꦜs is ta🔯ught 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 weꩲnt unsold lol😂😂
— Hanzala (@HanzalaAfaq)
The Hundred after using Babar Azam's name for promotion:
— Abdullah (@michaelscottfc)
Some Players Goes Unsold in The Hundred League𒈔 Draft for 1 Time while Babar Azam Gone Unsold in all 3 Drafts happened in Th💛e Hundred League 😂
— 𝙕𝙀𝙀𝙈𝙊¹⁰ (@Zemo6_ICTIAN)
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan unsold in The Hundred Draft. 😂🤣
No one rates these so called best batsmen. 🤣— 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 👑 (@imtheguy07)
//twitter.com/45_rohi💫t0/status/1638963645882200065
Babar Azam a🍎nd Mohammad Rizwan unsold in The Hundred Draft. 😂🤣
Biggest Stats Padders ﷽in World Cricket has no respect outside Pakistan
— Ash (@Ashsay_)
//twitter.com/sachitbhatia/status/163912507375893🔯💙7088
King Babar Azam remains Unsold in 'The Hundred' Draft.
— Over Thinker Lawyer 🇵𝔍🇰 (@Mujha_q_Na๊kala)
Babar Azam & Mohammad Riz🔜wan have gone unsold in The Hundred. Big win for T20 cricket
— ParteekNotPrateek (@randomcricfacts)
so𒉰 once again Babar Azam went unsold in the hꦍundred draft lmfaoooo😭😭😭
— zayn (@ZaynMahmood5)
Babar azam unpicked in The Hundred 🤣
— Ugma Ram #Chandrayaan3 (@ugma_ram_)
Babar Azam and Md Rizwan got unsold in The hundred leag🍨ue but the clowꦍn Shoaib Akhtar said if they were allowed in IPL they would be sold on more price than Virat kohli 😭😭
— # (@hyperkohli)
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.
