Fakhar Zaman’s sensational run of form persisted as he hammered yet another century, steering Pakistan to a seven-wicket triumph against New Zealand in the second One-day international (ODI) on Saturday at Pindi Cricket Stadium.

The left-handed opener scored a remarkable unbeaten 180 off 144 balls, marking his third consecutive ODI hundred and tenth overall.

During the post-match analysis, former Pakistan women’s cricket team captain, Sana Mir, praised Fakhar’s performance and highlighted his importance to the team. However, her comments were perceived by some Babar Azam fans as an indirect dig at the current Pakistan captain.

This is because Babar has faced criticism in the past for his strike-rate, with some fans and former cricketers suggesting that he doesn’t score runs quickly enough. Sana Mir’s comments, which emphasized Fakhar’s ability to score runs at a good strike-rate while chasing a high target, were seen by some as a contrast to Babar’s approach.

“We were talking off-air as well that his [Fakhar] runs are always for the team. If he scores a century, he does it at a strike-rate of 125, which is important when you are chasing a target close to 350, and not at a strike-rate of 100. That is the reason why he is crucial for this team, because where we already have players who play at run-a-ball, his role becomes crucial to chase 300 run plus targets,” Mir said.

There is something wrong with this video. pic.twitter.com/BjSFqeEQqP

— Usman Asghar (@uasghar18) April 30, 2023

Some Babar Azam fans took to social media to express their displeasure with Sana Mir’s comments, accusing her of taking a dig at the captain.

time to bring this “personal milestone” of babar back as ma’am sana mir thinks he makes runs for himself 🤡 https://t.co/TdrPJVhfNe pic.twitter.com/GpQ78jqnE7

— faamia || mama bear fan || none & ts stan acc (@papukashmiri) April 30, 2023

Babar Azam has higher strike rate in test cricket than Sana Mir has in WODI pic.twitter.com/gbhPjIW5du

— ikhlas 5.0 (Imad FC) (@EkhlasKhan8) April 30, 2023

To everyone calling out Babar FC for criticizing Sana Mir. Yes, she made a valid point but an ex cricketer/current commentator/analyst should know that playing with a 100+ SR and playing for the team are two different things. Her choice of words was wrong(1)

— NOSEtalgic (@N0SEtalgic) April 30, 2023

However, others defended Sana, arguing that her comments were not directed at Babar and that she was simply praising Fakhar’s performance.

Sana Mir didn’t even name Babar Azam and Twitter attacks her 🤦pic.twitter.com/fXCNknvTAW

— ٰImran Siddique (@imransiddique89) April 30, 2023

Babar Fc now trolling Sana Mir even Sana didn’t mention Babar name on that whole conversation, have some shame,I bet those fcs didn’t even started to watch the game of cricket when she was playing for Pakistan,Sana Mir is legend of Pakistan

— Shoaib (@ShoaibAbbasiiii) April 30, 2023

No surprise Babar Azam fan club is after Sana Mir now after watching this! #PAKvNZ https://t.co/MmPeyklMmA

— IMRAN DURRANI (@imrandurrani) April 30, 2023

So what sana mir said was “spot on” & she was not trying to mock any player which is babar according to babar FC. So I made this whole thread for people who are trolling sana mir and for people (specific mafia) who are using that video to criticize babar.

— Shazma Gilani (@ShazmaSpeaks) April 30, 2023

Regardless of the interpretation, it is clear that Babar’s strike-rate continues to be a topic of discussion among cricket fans and analysts.