Babar Azam hopeful of doing well in World Cup 2023

LAHORE – Pakistan captain Babar Azam said on Tuesday the morale of his team is “very high” to play the ICC Men's World Cup 2023, scheduled to begin on October 5 in India.

The skipper was addressing a pre-departure press conference as the team green is set to leave for the neighbouring country on Wednesday (September 27).

Babar Azam said all team will try to perform best in the tournament as all have set an eye on the world cup trophy.

While talking to the team performance in recently concluded Asia Cup 2023, he admitted: “We could not perform up to the market, but we got lesion from it”. He said the team players not only pointed out the mistakes but also decided to improve themselves.

He said that the situations in India are different from Asia Cup but Pakistan team is going to the tournament with planning.

He said he has complete confidence in all his players. The skipper also defended the Hasan Ali’s inclusion in the squad saying he had been picked due to his experience.

When asked about Naseem Shah’s injury, he replied: “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”.

The captain, who will be playing in India for the first time in his years-long career, said he was excited and not worried about the conditions in the neighbouring nation.

Babar Azam also responded to the questions related to his rumoured conflict with Shaheen Shah Afridi in dressing room after the Asia Cup event. He rejected the reports of having an heated exchange with Afridi, saying: “We love each other like a family”.