Pakistan's cricket captain Babar Azam has expressed confidence in his leadership, brushing off the weight of captaincy pressures. On October 23, Monday, Babar faced the unprecedented experience of being the first Pakistani captain to suffer an ODI defeat against Afghanistan. This eight-wicket loss took place during the World Cup 2023 match at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Babar remarked, “As far as the captaincy is concerned, I don't have much pressure on me or on my batting. I try to give my best in batting. I am 100% and I have been doing that. During fielding, I think about captaincy and during batting I just think about the batting. How should I run and how I should run for the team.”
The setback leaves Pakistan in a precarious position, holding four points with a net run rate of -0.400. However, the 29-year-old skipper remains hopeful about Pakistan's prospects in the tournament. “You never know. It's cricket. Anything can happen. We will try to play our best cricket till the end. There are a lot of matches left, we will try to win all the matches. We will try to overcome our mistakes,” Babar asserted.
He also highlighted the team's palpable absence of Naseem Shah, who had to withdraw from the World Cup due to a shoulder injury. Emphasising the need for a balanced performance, Babar said, “We are missing Naseem a lot. But apart from that, our bowling lineup is one of the best. But I think we are not able to click. Sometimes we do well in bowling, we don't do well in batting. When we do well in batting, we don't do it in fielding.”
Currently, Pakistan stands at the fifth position. However, following three consecutive defeats, another setback against South Africa this week could likely jeopardise the 1992 winners' hopes of moving on to the knock-out stages.
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