Babar Azam clears the air about 'rift' with Shaheen Afridi

LAHORE – Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Tuesday opened up about his alleged verbal spat with pacer Shaheen Afridi following a match of the Asia Cup 2023.

The right-handed batsman responded to the questions during a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium ahead of the team’s departure to India for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

He said, “There is no ill will in the dressing room. There are discussions after every loss but they get twisted into something else entirely. The entire team is like a family and there is love and respect there”.

The skipper also talked about the exclusion of Naseem Shah, saying: “Of course we will miss Naseem Shah as Shaheen [Afridi] and Naseem bowling together gave us a different edge”.

“It was not easy to pick his replacement, but we all sat together and got input from [chief selector] Inzamam ul Haq. We went with Hasan Ali because he has experience. He has played the World Cup before. I cannot comment who will bowl the new ball or the old ball, as we cannot reveal our strategies right now. But we have not made any concrete plans right now, it will become more clear to us when we travel to India and assess the conditions.”

“We are leaving for the World Cup tonight; the morale of the team is high and we are very confident. We will try to come back with a win, we request you all to back us and pray for us,” he said.