Mohammad Amir: “Babar and I have a mutual understanding and respect. He never bad-mouthed me and same from my side as well. But public thinks we are enemies. It was never like that”
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Mohammad Amir, the Pakistan left-arm seamer, has insisted that he “never bad-mouthed” captain Babar Azam and isn’t enemies with him either.
He noted that they have mutual respect for each other and feels that people’s perception of their relationship is wrong.
This stems from Amir’s behaviour towards Azam during the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he threw the ball in frustration towards the 28-year-old following a boundary.
However, Amir confirmed that he is not feuding with the Pakistan skipper and has never spoken badly about him.
“Babar and I have a mutual understanding and respect. He never bad-mouthed me and same from my side as well. But public thinks we are enemies. It was never like that,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam has been in good form as of late as he scored 76 runs at an average of 25.33 in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka.
Following this, he amassed 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Most recently, he captained the men in green in the Asia Cup and finished with 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Pakistan kicked off their campaign with a brilliant 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India after their match was rained off.
Having booked their spot in the Super Four, they continued to impress as they took down Bangladesh by seven wickets.
After this, however, things started to go awry for Pakistan as India pummelled them by 228 runs.
The men in green still had a chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, but could not do it as they lost to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir
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