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Babar Azam self-destructs with wrong English in James Anderson's tribute post, edits after screenshots go viral

Jul 13, 2024 10:56 AM IST

Babar Azam's wrongly worded tribute post for England legend James Anderson drew flack on social media.

Thank God for the edit button on Instagram. That's what Babar Azam must have been thinking after his wrongly worded tribute post for England legend James Anderson drew criticism. Babar used the word "cutter" to describe Anderson's bowing instead of "swing", for which he is world famous. Although the Pakistan white-ball skipper swapped the words in his edited post but the damage was done.

England's James Anderson, right, bowls a delivery past Pakistan's Babar Azam(AP)
England's James Anderson, right, bowls a delivery past Pakistan's Babar Azam(AP)

"It was a privilege to face your swing, Jimmy! The beautiful game will now miss one of its greatest. Your incredible service to the sport has been nothing short of remarkable. Huge respect for you, GOAT," Babar initially wrote with a photo of Anderson, who played his last Test for England on Friday.

Babar replaced cutter with swing in the edited version of the post but screenshots of the same went viral.

For the record, Babar has faced Anderson in six Tests - four of them in England. The Pakistan star batter has a pretty good record against the England legend. Anderson has dismissed Babar only twice. Babar has an average of 44 and a strike rate of 55.7 against Anderson.

Anderson's last Test

The 41-year-old Anderson's 188th and last test ended with him taking 3-32 in the West Indies' second innings as they were dismissed for 136 a little over an hour into the third day's play.

One of those wickets came on Friday, with Anderson enticing an edge behind off Joshua Da Silva with a delivery that seamed away. It was classic Anderson — unlike the caught-and-bowled chance he dropped off Gudakesh Motie with England needing just one more wicket for victory.

He fell to his knees and covered his face with his hand.

Soon, he was walking off the field at the home of cricket — in front of his parents, wife and children — to another standing ovation after Gus Atkinson took the final wicket.

Anderson finished his Test career with 704 wickets - the most by any fast bowler in the history of the game. He is third in the all-time list behind Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

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IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap , and IPL Points Table – stay ahead with real-time match updates, team standings, and insights. Check live cricket score , player stats, and ICC rankings of top players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli . Get expert analysis, IPL match previews, and in-depth coverage of KKR, RCB, IPL 2025 and IPL 2025 Schedule all on HT Crickit, powered by Hindustan Times – your trusted source for cricket news.
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