Still at it: Though Pakistan wants a large win over England to make the semifinals, Babar insisted that his staff will make a fist of it.
When the World Cup fixtures have been first launched, England-Pakistan on the Eden Gardens had a halo round it. A marquee tie between two world champions and potential semifinalists on the penultimate day of the league stage was a mouth-watering prospect.
Come match-day, England is out of rivalry and Pakistan all however. Friday’s pre-match briefing with Babar Azam was thus principally about sombre reflection and the long run plan of action.
“I think the South Africa match cost us,” mentioned the Pakistan skipper. “We should have won that [and] because of that we are in this stage. There is one match left. You never know. It’s cricket; we will try to finish on a good note and then see.”
At one level, it was steered that Babar could think about quitting captaincy to solely concentrate on his batting, like Virat Kohli for India. The 29-year-old, nonetheless, dead-batted it and in addition brushed apart the critics, albeit in his personal understated method.
“I have been captaining my team for the last three years and I have never felt [burdened],” he mentioned. “Just because I have not performed the way I should have, people are saying that I am under pressure. Everyone has their own point of view.
“Par kisi ko mashwara dena bhi hai, toh number sabke paas hai. It is easy to give advice on TV. But you can also message me,” Babar added with a smile.
Pakistan’s state of affairs is a mirror picture of its travails from the 2019 World Cup the place it needed to defeat Bangladesh in its final league match by over 300 runs to pip New Zealand on internet run price and sneak into the semifinals. It couldn’t again then, and this time, it wants a 287-run victory however Babar insisted that the staff would not think about it a misplaced trigger.
“It’s in our mind and we will try to do it. We can’t just go and start firing blindly. There are a lot of things, like partnership, which player will stay for how long. If Fakhar [Zaman] is in for 20 or 30 overs, we can achieve that. Then follow up with [Mohammad] Rizwan, Iftikhar [Ahmed]. We can do this.”
