Karachi: 

Star Pakistan batter Babar Azam has asked fans and media to stop calling him king after him often being referred to as 'king' by his fans on social media. He was nicknamed 'King' by fans for his exceptional consistency with the bat across formats. However, Babar hasn't been in great touch in recent times. He hasn’t scored an ODI century since August 2023 and a Test century since December 2022.

In the first two games of the series, he managed just 33 runs from two innings at an average of 16.50. Babar's poor run with the bat has continued In the ongoing tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa. Following his failure in the first two games, the 30-year-old requested his fans to stop giving him the title of the king as he feels that there’s a lot yet to be achieved in his career.

"Please stop calling me King. I am not King, I am not there yet. There are new roles for me now. Whatever I have done before is in the past. Every match is a fresh challenge, and I must focus on the present and future," Babar told media.

Babar has a great opportunity to get some runs under his kitty ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 when Pakistan will lock horns with South Africa in the ongoing ODI tri-series final at Karachi National Stadium in Karachi on Friday, February 14.

Earlier, during a pre-tournament press conference, Rizwan was asked about Pakistan's opening combination, and he responded with a clever reference to Babar Azam's famous moniker, 'King'. "Iske jawaab mein woh baat ki thi na, 'King kar lega'." (The answer is, there was a line 'King will do it'.)," said Rizwan.

Notably, India's Virat Kohli, who has amassed 81 hundred across formats in his 17-year-long career, is often called 'King' by Indian fans. An Indian cricket fan residing in Australia named Kunal Gandhi, in an old interview claimed that he was the one to first use the word 'King' to describe Kohli. "During India's tour of Australia in 2014, I wanted to gift him a jersey but did not want to write only his name without an adequate adjective."

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