A recent survey carried out by Ipsos, a multinational market research firm, reveals that the majority of Pakistanis have predicted that Babar Azam will make the most runs in this year's ICC Cricket World Cup amassing a whopping 42% of votes, despite his below average performance in the mega event so far. Mohammad Rizwan follows the team's skipper with 37% votes while 7% of Pakistani cricket fans believe India's Virat Kohli will take the title. The survey also included predictions for other titles including “Most Wicket-Taking Bowler”, “Wicket Keeper with Most Catches”, “Best Fielder”, and more. Fans abuzz with cricket fever have been closely observing and analysing every move made by their favourite players on the pitch.

Based on their analysis or sheer admiration for the players, Pakistanis have predicted that Shaheen Shah Afridi, the young speedster, will become the “Most Wicket-Taking Bowler” with a whopping 47% of votes. He is followed by teammates Haris Rauf with 19% of votes, Hassan Ali with 14% and Shadab Khan with 8%.According to the survey, it seems that 65% of Pakistanis believe Rizwan, who is a keen wicket-keeper, is the “Wicket Keeper with Most Catches” for this year’s World Cup. For the title of “Best Fielder”, 21% fans predicted that Shahdab Khan will be winning the title, with the most catches and run-outs in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Additionally, for the “Best Player of World Cup”, Babar once again takes the lead, this time getting 34% of the votes in the survey. He is followed by Muhammad Rizwan with 26% votes and Virat Kohli with 14%. Furthermore, it is important to note that cricket matches are incomplete without commentators and fans charged with the cricket frenzy. As cricket commentators have a fandom of their own, the survey included a “Preferred Commentators” category and it revealed that Ramiz Raja stood out to be the preferred commentator for 58% of respondents. He was followed by Waqar Younis with 19% votes, Ravi Shastri with 6% votes, and any other commentator with 3% votes.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)