Babar Azam: “We have the best management. We have got a coaching panel of former cricketers who have given great performances for Pakistan. Coaches can only give you plan and share experience whereas it is the player who has to execute in the field”
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Pakistan captain Babar Azam has thrown his support behind head coach Saqlain Mushtaq and the rest of the coaching staff following the team’s dismal home season.
Pakistan were whitewashed 3-0 in their Test series against England, while both of the Test matches they played against New Zealand ended as a draw.
In the three-match ODI series that followed, New Zealand beat them 2-1.
Despite a string of poor results, Azam reiterated that sacking Saqlain, batting coach Mohammad Yousuf, bowling coach Shaun Tait and the other coaches is not the answer to the problem.
“We have the best management. We have got a coaching panel of former cricketers who have given great performances for Pakistan. Coaches can only give you plan and share experience whereas it is the player who has to execute in the field,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan’s failure to beat England or New Zealand has put pressure on Azam’s captaincy as rumours have been picking up about a potential split in the leadership going forward. If this were to happen, it would mean that the 28-year-old would no longer captain Pakistan in all three formats.
As of right now, nothing has been confirmed, which means Azam will be able to shift his focus to the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he will be in charge of the Peshawar Zalmi. He was traded to the franchise from the Karachi Kings in exchange for Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik.
Ironically, the Zalmi will begin their PSL 8 campaign with a clash against the Kings on February 14.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, James Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail and Richard Gleeson