Since Najam Sethi assumed leadership as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) interim management committee, rumours regarding batting sensation Babar Azam’s captaincy have increased.
Babar is still “uncertain” about his position despite reports that the PCB has decided to keep him as the national team’s captain following a stellar one-day international (ODI) series against New Zealand.
The 28-year-old captain has frequently stated that he is more concerned with his own and his team’s performance than he is with rumours about his captaincy.
Babar said he hasn’t been told whether he will stay as the captain until the mega event — World Cup — scheduled for later this year in response to a similar question posed during the post-match press conference last night.
To avoid a series sweep and dethrone Pakistan as the top-ranked team in the format, the Black Caps, led by Tom Latham, won the fifth and final ODI of the series by a margin of 47 runs on Sunday in Karachi.
Pakistan dropped from first to third in the ODI rankings—behind Australia and India—after the Green Shirts’ loss, which means their ascent to the top spot only lasted 48 hours.
In response to a question about how the team did in the most recent ODI, Babar said: “We tried to clean sweep the Black Caps but the way we planned, we couldn’t finish it that way.”
We intended to wrap up the series on a stronger note, but early wickets cost us the game, he lamented.
But the entire series was fantastic. Excellent performances were given. We were able to assess our bench strength, which was one of many advantages.
The team will have a chance to practise for the major event during every game prior to the World Cup, according to the captain.
Babar brushed off a question regarding Imam-ul-Haq’s cryptic tweet by replying that he hasn’t seen it yet and will see it later.
Imam, the opening batter, had written a mysterious post the day before after learning that he wouldn’t be playing in the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand in Karachi.
Imam was benched from the fourth and fifth one-day internationals after amassing 90 runs and winning man of the match honours in the third ODI.
Imam wrote “Life is an unexpected journey so never expect anything from anyone” on Sunday before the final ODI of the series. Observed by Allah, be patient.
Regarding his records, the skipper said that he strives to work even harder and not just sit around when he hits a new milestone.
The hosts’ 4-1 victory in the five-match ODI series was a fair representation of the disparity between them and a New Zealand team without the services of top players like Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, and others.
Babar dismissed these reports, claiming that by counting the number of senior players in each team, the Men in Green don’t play cricket.
Around 20,000 holiday-goers had come in hopes that Babar would make his 100th ODI memorable, but they were let down when the Pakistan captain was caught off an errant shot by Shipley for just one run off five balls.
