Watch: Babar Azam dismissed for 12 on his return to first-class cricket after 7 years

The Test captain of the Pakistan side, Babar Azam, has failed on his long-awaited return to the domestic cricket with a brief stay at the crease as he was dismissed for just 12 runs while featuring for the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) against the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Abbottabad.  

Babar Azam was recently part of the two-match Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean before being part of the three-match red-ball series against England in the United Kingdom (UK). He returned to the domestic cricket after seven years, which attracted a massive attention from the fans, who had been waiting eagerly to see the star batter. 

Babar Azam fell for just 12 runs on his long-awaited comeback to the domestic circuit

Babar’s return to the President’s Trophy Grade 1 didn’t go as he and his fans expected. The expectation around his appearance was evident in Abbottabad as a massive number of supports hoped to see him putting a decent knock besides his name. Some fans even stormed onto the field to meet the captain. 

Watch Babar Azam's dismissal here- 

OGDCL came to bat after the KRL side posted a huge score of 398 runs on the board in the first innings. Babar’s knock didn’t last long as he managed only 12 runs in 20 deliveries, collecting two boundaries at a strike rate of 60 before losing his wicket.

See Also: Watch: Babar Azam meets special fan in Abbottabad during President's Trophy return

He smashed a fine boundary through the extra-cover region but couldn’t continue the superb work. He was undone by the short delivery as the ball ballooned in the air when he tried to pull the short delivery. The team’s score was 46/4 following his departure, leaving KRL in strong position of the contest.

The knock does little to end his prolonged wait for a first-class hundred, extending the lean patch

Babar has smashed 4771 runs in 122 innings of the Test cricket for Pakistan at an average of 42.98 and a strike rate of 55.38, thanks to nine centuries and 34 half-centuries at the best score of 196 runs. In the first-class cricket, he has notched up 6835 runs in 178 innings, shouldering on his 12 centuries and 46 fifties. 

Babar managed two half-centuries during the series against West Indies in the Caribbean. He cracked 88 runs in the first innings of the second Test at Port of Spain. The right-handed batter failed in his first three innings of the England series and left UK with 76 at Edgbaston.

See Also: Watch: Fan injures Babar Azam on the field as he returns to domestic cricket after 7 years

Babar’s century drought in the first-class format continues as he hasn’t reached to the three figure marks for two years.

Fans reacted strongly on social media to the early dismissal

The fans have showed their view strongly on the social media around the early dismissal of Babar-