The social media went by storm after fake posts from Pakistan star batter Babar Azam announcing his retirement from Test cricket went viral, following Pakistan’s 2-0 series loss to Bangladesh on Tuesday.
This series of retirement announcements that started to circulate has evoked shock and surprise, sparking debates, and sowing seeds of uncertainty.
The rumours of retirement started around social media after Babar had another underwhelming performance during the Test series against Bangladesh. After managing scores of just 31 and 11 in the second Test match played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
However, it later came to attention that these posts circulating online emerged from parody accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter). No such statements were found on Babar's official social media handles, X and Instagram.
The first fake retirement post on X was posted by an account named “Jay Shah (parody),” which claimed Babar Azam had retired from Test cricket.
Here’s the viral post:
Moreover, another fake post circulated by a profile named "Babar Azam - Parody" further fuelled speculations about Babar’s retirement.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh completed a six-wicket victory over here on Tuesday and achieved a historic sweep of their two-Test series.
Needing 143 more runs on the final day with 10 wickets in hand, Bangladesh knocked them off for the loss of four wickets when Shakib Al Hasan hit the winning boundary.
Bangladesh recorded only its second bilateral series win of two or more Tests away from home; the last was against the West Indies in 2009.
The tourists won the opening Test by 10 wickets and required just four days in the second after the first day was washed out in Rawalpindi.
(With inputs from AP)
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