Babar Azam: “No, I don’t have any message for them”
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Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, has made it clear he has nothing to say to those who doubt his captaincy credentials.
Doubts have lingered about whether the 28-year-old is the right man to be leading the men in green in all three formats.
During Pakistan’s home season earlier in 2023, his side failed to achieve the results expected of them, which gave rise to speculation that the captaincy would be split.
Even though nothing ended up happening, the debate raged on and some of Azam’s critics still feel he shouldn’t be leading the team.
When asked to address this, the Lahore-born batsman chose not to lash out at them.
“No, I don’t have any message for them,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently scored 76 runs in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He then proceeded to make 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Most recently, he was involved in the Asia Cup and amassed 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Pakistan looked to be in good form as they started with a dominant 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point with India as their match was washed out.
Having progressed to the Super Fours, the men in green maintained their momentum with a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.
However, things began falling apart after this as India battered them by 228 runs.
Despite this, Pakistan still had a chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, but they couldn’t do it as Sri Lanka beat them by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â 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:Â Tayyab Tahir