Ramiz Raja: “I tried my level best to keep this team united. I empowered Babar Azam. Cricket is one of those rare sports where captaincy is relevant. If your captain is powerful, results will come, and we have given results”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja said he “empowered” Pakistan captain Babar Azam during his time as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman.
He noted that in addition to instilling confidence in the 28-year-old, he also kept the national team united in order to ensure they delivered strong results.
Ramiz pointed out that he knew making Azam feel “powerful” was essential to the men in green’s fortunes as it would help them perform better.
“I tried my level best to keep this team united. I empowered Babar Azam. Cricket is one of those rare sports where captaincy is relevant. If your captain is powerful, results will come, and we have given results,” he said on Suno TV a quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Ramiz was replaced as PCB chairman by Najam Sethi after Shehbaz Sharif became Prime Minister.
Azam, meanwhile, will be preparing to captain the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which will take place from February 13 to March 19 in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
The Zalmi’s opening match was against the Karachi Kings on February 14, which they won by two runs.
In that close affair, Azam struck 68 runs off 46 balls, which included seven boundaries and a six.
Next up for the Zalmi will be the Multan Sultans, who they will play on February 17.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8:Â 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