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[Saba Sports News] Mohammad Yousuf, the former Pakistan cricketer, has expressed support for Babar Azam during his challenging times in the current Test series against Australia. He motivates Babar to make a strong comeback in the remaining innings of the ongoing second Test.
This support comes after Babar’s brief innings of one run from seven balls, bowled out by Australian skipper Pat Cummins on the second day of Pakistan’s first innings at the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Cummins had also dismissed Babar in the second innings of the first Test in Perth. In that Test, Babar scored 21 and 14, contributing to Pakistan’s 360-run defeat and Australia’s 1-0 series lead.
Yousuf conveyed optimism on X (formerly Twitter): “Be strong now because things will get better, it might be stormy now, but it can’t rain forever.”
In the second Test, Pakistan, led by captain Shan Masood, chose to field. Australia wrapped up their innings at 318 by lunch on day 2, with Marnus Labuschagne scoring a steady 63 and Mitchell Marsh hitting a brisk 41. David Warner and Usman Khawaja opened with a 90-run partnership, scoring 38 and 42 respectively. Aamer Jamal led Pakistan’s bowling with three wickets, supported by two each from Shaheen Afridi, Mir Hamza, and Hasan Ali.
For Pakistan, Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood each scored a half-century. By the close of Day 2, Pakistan trailed by 124 runs at 194/6 in 55 overs, with Mohammad Rizwan (29*) and Aamer Jamal (2*) batting. Cummins was a key performer for Australia, taking three wickets.