[Watch] Babar Azam narrates story behind gifting his gloves to crying young fan ahead of PAK vs CAN 2024 T20 World Cup clash

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is renowned for his heartwarming gestures to fans, especially kids, over the years. While the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup has been anything but smooth sailing for himself and his team, the 29-year-old was still kind enough to gift a young fan his gloves ahead of their clash against Canada on June 12.

However, the reason behind that stems back to Pakistan’s previous encounter against India, as narrated by Babar in an ICC video.

“I met this kid during the India vs Pakistan match. After the anthem, he came to me and started crying. I got worried. I asked if anyone said anything to him. Then he said he is a fan. He did the same thing today (against Canada). He was standing in the line and crying. We all have experienced this. When you meet a star, the excitement is at a different level,” said Babar.

“I thought if he is such a big fan then I should also have some responsibility to give him something as a gift. Something memorable. I had my gloves in my hands. I gave him that. He got very excited and started crying even more. I told him not to worry. Then, while crying, he requested me to sign it,” added Babar.

While Pakistan stumbled in a small run chase against India to lose by six runs, they bounced back in style against Canada.

The Men in Green restricted Canada to 106 and chased down the target in the 18th over to win their first game of the tournament.

“We needed this win” – Babar Azam

Babar Azam admitted the side desperately needed the win against Canada after back-to-back defeats to the USA and India to begin their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.

The win keeps Pakistan’s slender hopes of qualifying for the Super Eight alive with one group-stage game remaining.

At the post-match presentation, Babar said of the Canada win:

“Good for us. We needed this win. Credit to team. We started well and took wickets with the new ball. We had NRR on the back of the mind. The first six overs are very crucial here. You assess after 6 overs. Then we tried to take on the spinners.”

Babar scored a run-a-ball 33 in the chase to calm any nerves after Pakistan lost their opening wicket in the 5th over with only 20 runs on the board.

They will take on Ireland in another do-or-die encounter in Florida on Sunday, June 16.