‘Lumber 1' became a top trend on Twitter after cricket fans mocked Babar Azam following Pakistan's defeat to New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up game on Friday.

Powered by Mohammad Rizwan's century, Pakistan posted a healthy total of 345/5 on the board after batting first against the Kiwis.

However, New Zealand opener Rachin Ravindra's quickfire 97 off 72 balls and fifties from Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson, and Mark Chapman meant that Pakistan's rivals completed the run chase quite comfortably.

Following the defeat to New Zealand, the tactics of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam came under fire from Twitter users, who criticized his captaincy for the team's loss.

It isn't the first time Babar Azam has received the ‘lumber 1' acronym of late.

 

Earlier this month, Babar Azam became a butt of jokes on social media after India talisman Virat Kohli's record-breaking unbeaten knock of 122 against his side powered the Men in Blue to a historic 228-run victory in the Asia Cup.

Babar Azam's mockery on Twitter, now renamed X, came after the Pakistani batter, currently ranked No.1 in ICC's ODI rankings, fell for ten against India, having seen his stumps knocked over by all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Netizens even taunted him with “Zimbabar” and “lumber 1” posts, suggesting he can only score centuries against minnows like Zimbabwe and not against quality teams like India.

In contrast to Babar Azam, Virat Kohli made history in the Super-4 clash of the Asia Cup against Pakistan, becoming the quickest to complete 13,000 runs in One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

With an unbeaten knock of 122 runs in 94 deliveries against Babar Azam and his men, Virat Kohli shattered his idol Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing record of being the fastest to reach 13,000 runs in the 50-over format.

While Sachin Tendulkar needed 321 essays to touch the 13,000-run milestone, Virat Kohli required only 267 innings to accomplish the landmark.

Soon after Virat Kohli blazed through his 47th century in ODIs, he began trending on social media, and fans started praising him for tearing the Pakistani attack apart.

However, this was not the only accomplishment the 34-year-old premier India batter attained during his knock against Pakistan.

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Remarkably, this was Virat Kohli's 47th ODI hundred, leaving him just two behind Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49.

Also, his century against the Green Army was his fourth successive ton at the R Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka, making him the second man to do so at a single venue in international cricket.

Before him, former South African batter Hashim Amla achieved a similar feat at SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium in Centurion.

Notably, this is India's highest score against Pakistan in ODIs, equaling the previous 356/9 at Visakhapatnam in 2005, which marked the arrival of the legendary MS Dhoni, who struck a scintillating 148 in that contest.

Meanwhile, former India opener Gautam Gambhir backed Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, the top-ranked batter in the 50-overs format, to set the World Cup on fire.

“Babar Azam has every quality to set this World Cup on fire. I have seen very few players who have so much time. Yes, there are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Kane Williamson and Joe Root but Babar Azam has a quality of a different level,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.

Babar Azam and his boys will begin their World Cup journey against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on October 6.

The India-Pakistan game dubbed the mother of all matches, will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14.

Speaking about the India-Pakistan encounter, the legendary Waqar Younis emphasized that it would be a pressure game because of the large crowd that would come to watch the match.

“As we all know, it (India vs Pakistan) will be the biggest game, mother of all the games. So, when you play in Ahmedabad, you will have to control your nerves, and not only Pakistan will be under pressure since it is a weaker team as compared to India. But India will also be under pressure because the crowd in the stadium will create pressure on both the teams,” Waqar Younis told Star Sports.

“However, if we judge purely based on the team's performance, India definitely will be a better team,” he added. Younis was also mindful of the Pakistani's unstable form, and said the injury-enforced absence of pacer Naseem Shah could put them in a significant disadvantage. If I talk about Pakistan, they are a miss and hit this time. The absence of Naseem Shah will be a big disadvantage because Naseem and Shaheen (Afridi) used to complement each other with new ball,” Waqar Younis explained.

Pakistan squad for Cricket World Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir.