Wahab Riaz: “Babar Azam has not won anything as captain in his career, and we talked to Babar about this. But he is optimistic and believes Pakistan can win the World Cup under his captaincy”
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Pakistan selector Wahab Riaz said Babar Azam is confident the men in green can win the 2024 T20 World Cup, even though he “has not won anything as captain in his career.”
Azam was recently named Pakistan’s limited overs skipper and is set to lead the national team in the tournament, which will take place in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.
Wahab revealed he spoke to the 29-year-old about his failure to win any major tournaments as captain, but Azam assured him that the team is good enough to emerge triumphant.
“Babar Azam has not won anything as captain in his career, and we talked to Babar about this. But he is optimistic and believes Pakistan can win the World Cup under his captaincy,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently captained Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and made 125 runs in five games, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 31.25 and a strike-rate of 138.88.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match T20I series against Ireland from May 10 to 14.
They will then play four T20Is against England from May 22 to May 30.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan