On Sunday, June 16, as he met the media in Florida, Pakistan captain Babar Azam was the talk of the town. The right-handed batsman had just left the pitch after hitting 32 without losing against Ireland. In order to finish their competition with some momentum, the Pakistani team overcame a scare before defeating Ireland by three wickets.
One of the first questions posed to Babar Azam by the media when he first took a seat was what caused Pakistan to withdraw early from the Twenty20 World Cup? The 29-year-old began the conversation by stating that no one person was the reason they lost.
“I assured you that one individual was not the reason we lost this. Collectively, we win and lose. As the captain, you are right to point out that I am unable to fill the shoes of every player. Every single one of the eleven players has a part to perform. That is the reason they came to compete in the World Cup. I believe that as a team, we have not been able to perform well. We need to come to terms with the fact that, as a team, we didn’t perform properly, Babar stated.
The United States of America vs. Ireland match was rained off, thus Pakistan was not able to advance to the Super-8 stages. As the second-placed team from Group A, the co-hosts USA advanced to the following stage of the competition.
Also read: Babar Azam’s numbers as captain tell a story: Ex-skipper Shoaib Malik
There have been tidings of division and players not getting along in the Pakistani team. Fans were especially angry at Imad Wasim for not being able to get going with the bat during the six-run defeat against India. Given that Pakistan had to chase down just 120 runs, it was a difficult defeat. The 2009 T20 World Cup winners were unable to salvage the campaign despite defeating Canada because of continuous rain in Florida.
Showdown negotiations between Pakistan Cricket Board and Babar Azam are scheduled.
Babar Azam will once again be scrutinised following another poor ICC tournament. Surprisingly, the 29-year-old was asked to take charge of the T20I team in lieu of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Before being fired to create a lot of concerns, the young left-arm pacer was captain for just one series.
Upon being asked to discuss his future as captain, Babar Azam stated, “I felt that I shouldn’t be captain right now, so I left it and made the announcement myself. The PCB made the decision to give it back to me.” We’ll talk about what happened here when I return. And I will make a public announcement if I have to step down as captain. Nothing will be a cover for me. Whatever transpires will take place in public. I haven’t given it any attention as of yet, though. PCB will ultimately make the choice.
India
