Pakistan's Test team captain Shan Masood recently addressed the media and spoke on Babar Azam's batting concerns in the longest format of the game ahead of third Test against Australia on January 3. Acknowledging that the star batter had a challenging year in 2023, failing to score over fifty in any Test match, Masood expressed his support for Babar. He highlighted Babar's rigorous training and preparation, especially in the nets, indicating his readiness for the upcoming third and final Test match against Australia in Sydney which is set to star from January 3, Wednesday. In the second Test against Australia, which Pakistan lost by 79 runs, Babar Azam notched the scores of 1 and 41 in both the innings. He earlier scored 21 runs and 14 runs in the first Test.
In the pre-match press conference skipper Masood said,"Babar Azam is our main player. We have no concerns over his performance. His approach is positive. He is practicing for hours in the nets and has great fitness. I am looking forward to him scoring big in the Sydney Test."
Masood discusses Pakistan's fielding issues
In the aftermath of Pakistan's disappointing fielding performance in the Melbourne Test, where two important catches were missed, contributing to their loss, there has been considerable criticism directed towards Abdullah Shafique's slip catching and the team's overall fielding. Despite this, Masood stood by his team, emphasising their commitment to improving their fielding standards. Masood said,"In a game your hands are tied because slips are very specialised. A lot of fielding places in Test cricket are very specialised. We had four genuine quick bowlers, so it was hard to get them into the slips. And then Abdullah Shafique has been a good slipsman for us and those are the guys that practise for hours every day. He's a brilliant slips fielder. He's got age on his side. But I think if he doesn't feel comfortable, Babar is a decent first slipper."
Pakistan is drawing confidence from their resilient performance in the second Test, aiming to challenge and potentially disrupt David Warner's retirement celebrations in the upcoming Sydney match.
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