Babar Azam has become the first Pakistan captain to win his first four Tests as skipper as they swept the series against Zimbabwe 2-0 in Harare Sports Club on Monday.
Azam lauded his players after they completed a successful southern Africa tour with a second straight innings victory over Zimbabwe then looked ahead to his team’s planned tour of the West Indies in July.
It took Pakistan five overs to take the remaining Zimbabwe wicket to seal a win by an innings and 147 runs on the fourth day of the second Test. With the win, Azam also became the first Pakistan captain to win his first four Tests as skipper.
Shaheen Shah Afridi had Luke Jongwe caught behind for 37 to complete a five-wicket haul. He took five for 52.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Babar said his players had shown character and he was particularly pleased with the performance of the batsmen, especially man-of-the-match Abid Ali, who scored 215 not out in Pakistan’s only innings.
Abid, with his unbeaten double ton, received the Player of the Match award.
Hassan Ali bagged Player of the Series award, after taking 14 wickets at an average of just 8.92.
“The partnership between Abid and Azhar Ali was crucial,” he said. Azhar scored 126 in a second-wicket stand of 236.
“The confidence of our batsmen will be high and we have an important series in the West Indies coming up,” said Babar.
Meanwhile, Azam has been declared Player of the Month by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following his stunning performance in the ODI series against South Africa.
Pakistan is due to play three Tests and three T20 Internationals (T20Is) in the Caribbean.
