Babar Azam: “Everyone respects each other in the team. It was a normal meeting but it was portrayed as if we had a fight. There was no such thing as we love each other like a family”
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Pakistan captain Babar Azam had denied rumours of a rift between him and pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, even though it may seem like they “had a fight.”
Azam insisted that the two of them simply had a “normal meeting” and pointed out that everything was blown out of proportion.
The 29-year-old from Lahore made it clear that everyone gets along in the Pakistan team as “we love each other like a family.”
“Everyone respects each other in the team. It was a normal meeting but it was portrayed as if we had a fight. There was no such thing as we love each other like a family,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
In the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Azam has scored 216 runs in seven matches, which includes three fifties, at an average of 30.85.
Afridi, meanwhile, has taken 16 wickets in seven matches, which includes a five-wicket haul against Australia, at an average of 19.93.
Pakistan began the World Cup with two wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing their next four games against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They stopped their dismal run with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Kolkata, which kept their hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals alive.
Pakistan will be back in action on November 4 when they take on New Zealand in Bengaluru.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup:Â Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali