[WATCH] Babar Azam's heartwarming gesture for Hyderabad ground staff after PAK vs SL 2023 World Cup clash

Following Pakistan's historic run chase in their 2023 World Cup clash against Sri Lanka, Men in Green skipper Babar Azam expressed his gratitude to the ground staff of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in a heartwarming manner.

Babar gifted a jersey of the Pakistan team to the ground staff and posed for photographs with them following the conclusion of their second game in the tournament.

Pakistan played both their warmup fixtures as well as their first two games of the 2023 World Cup in Hyderabad, which hosted its last game of the tournament on Tuesday.

The Pakistan team received boisterous support from the crowd through the course of their brilliant and successful chase of 345 which they aced with 10 deliveries to spare.

A video posted by the ICC's official Instagram handle shows Babar handing over a jersey to the ground staff of the venue and posing for photographs.

Here's a watch his heartwarming gesture:

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also posted a picture on X that shows Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf, and Hasan Ali posing with the ground staff.

Here's a look at that image:

Pakistan ace highest successful run chase in ODI World Cup history

Pakistan were subjected to a hammering by Sri Lanka in their second 2023 World Cup encounter in Hyderabad, with Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama blowing them away with sparkling centuries. The bowlers did pull it back in the last ten overs though to ensure that the target wasn't more than 345.

Once Imam-ul-Haq and Babar perished inside the first powerplay, all seemed lost for Pakistan. That was when Abdullah Shafique and Rizwan teamed up to mount a stellar comeback in the form of a third-wicket partnership worth 176 runs.

Shafique notched up his maiden ODI ton and Rizwan his third, even as the latter battled cramps through the course of his innings.

Rizwan got the job done himself though, remaining unbeaten on 131 off 121 deliveries as Pakistan broke the record for the highest successful run chase in ODI World Cup history.

With the win, they've now won both their opening encounters and are just behind New Zealand on the points table on the basis of net run rate.

Pakistan will now head to Ahmedabad for the much-awaited clash against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, October 14.

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