Shaheen Shah Afridi was left amazed last month when the Pakistan Cricket Board replaced him with the former captain Babar Azam, who was appointed as the captain of the team. The manner in which it was done created controversy, as Afridi was left quite angry with the statement on the website of the Pakistan Cricket Board, which carried his statement, which he never said.
Now before the T20 international series of the Pakistan cricket team against New Zealand Babar Azam held his first press conference, in which he talked about his second captaincy stint. While speaking about his relationship with the fast bowler, the batsman reassured the fans that they were on good terms. Babur said I want to make it clear that the bond between me and Shaheen is not recent. It goes back a long way. Babar further said that we support each other in every kind of situation. Our goal is to put Pakistan first and show how to put the name of Pakistan in the spotlight. We don’t think of the glory of an individual, and thankfully, these kinds of elements are not even present in the team.
It is to be noted that a year ago, when rumors about Babar losing his captaincy started, Afridi was one of the first people to back him.
While talking about Usman Mir, he said Usman needs to keep on doing all the things that got him here. We put expectations on every player, and I expect some of the same from myself as well as the players. It makes me happy when a young player gets a chance and the senior players back him. We try to take these young players under our wings because initially, when you come to international cricket, you struggle a lot and need support and confidence, and then those players go on to serve the nation.
The New Zealand series is going to be a litmus test for the Pakistan cricket team before the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in June. Pakistan were runners-up in the 2022 World Cup and are going to look forward to winning the title this time.
Babar also added, “I always put full faith in my players on the basis of their performance. Sometimes it becomes harder when you have talented players at your disposal to produce an 11. We also try to do our best for the team and all of this preparation for the World Cup.
“I always believe the players we have here are here on the basis of performance. We try to do our best for Pakistan. All of this is preparation for the World Cup, and it all starts tomorrow,” said Babar.
