"Tortoise and rabbit story"—Ravi Ashwin takes a funny dig at Babar Azam’s 90-ball 64-run knock.

In the Champions Trophy opening on Wednesday in Karachi, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin subtly criticized Pakistan's top batsman, Babar Azam, for his plodding fifty against New Zealand.

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After losing captain Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, and Saud Shakeel, Pakistan was in a terrible position at 69/3 as they attempted to reach the intimidating 321-run mark.

Pakistan needed its best player, Babar, to do something big and quick. To everyone's astonishment, though, the defending champions were unable to reach the necessary goal due to the 31-year-old's slow performance.

Thanks to Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s caution, Pakistan scored 22/2 in the first 10 overs and played 47 dot balls in a total of 60 balls. Only Salman Ali Agha with 42 in 28 balls tried to up the ante, while Babar kept prodding and defending the deliveries.

Khushdil Shah showed intent with his late surge, but his valiant 69 (49) went in vain. The game crawled towards its climax, and Pakistan met its fate by crumbling to a 60-run defeat.

Ravichandran Ashwin mocks Babar Azam for his slow knock with a hilarious post

Salman Ali Agha, the vice-captain, lifted the standard with his aggressive strokeplay while Babar scored runs at his own pace. In order to give Pakistan a glimmer of hope, which ultimately vanished, he proceeded from strength to strength.

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Babar's 58-run partnership with Salman was mocked by Ashwin, who likened it to the "Tortoise and Rabbit story."

"Babar's journey to 50, coupled with Salman Ali Agha's batting, has to be the best depiction of "The Tortoise and Rabbit story.". #ChampionsTrophy," he wrote on X.

Earlier, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner had lost the toss, and Mohammad Rizwan asked him to bat first in Karachi. Despite losing Devon Conway and Kane Williamson early, Will Young with 107 (12 fours and 1 six) and Tom Latham with 118* (10 fours and 3 sixes) added 118 runs together to steady the ship.

In the last 10 overs, New Zealand scored 120-plus runs as Glenn Phillips got into action and scored 61 in 39 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes, as New Zealand scored 320/5 in 50 overs. For Pakistan, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf took two wickets each.

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