Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has credited his side’s inspiring teamwork for their stunning clean sweep against hosts Bangladesh in the recently ended three-match T20I series.
Discussing his team’s prolific performance after the final fixture, the superstar batter mentioned how every member of the Pakistan side is aware of their roles. The strategy has paid dividends for them in their recent assignments, according to the skipper.
The 27-year-old feels that a form slump is part and parcel of the game. Babar added that he intends to take positives from the series, despite his own underwhelming outings. He also recognized contributions from the likes of Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah and lauded them for stepping up.
Babar also assured fans that the team is on the right track. Pakistan will now shift their focus to red-ball cricket when they lock horns against Bangladesh in a two-match Test series. Azam is keen to capitalise on the momentum they are carrying. He said: “The management and I have assigned specific roles for everyone and the players have been executing their plans nicely. Everyone expects me to do well. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this time. I always try to perform in every game, but there are always ups and downs in cricket. This teaches you that it is important to remain positive all the time. We are on the right track and will look to carry the same momentum in Test matches as well.”
“These were the things that we were missing,” said Babar who was delighted to see fans back in the stands. The star batter stated that his Pakistan side were overjoyed to see fans slowly returning to the stadiums. He also revealed that his players enjoyed seeing the fans cheer for them. Babar applauded the middle-order for firing with the bat alongside their improved fielding and believes those are the key takeaways from the series.
“We enjoyed a lot. The way in which the fans showed their support in all three games, these were the things that we were missing. The fans are being allowed into the stadium as things are opening up slowly and it is a wonderful thing. I am very pleased with the team’s consistency. It’s good to see how players are taking responsibility,” he added.
The right hand-batter recently surpassed veteran batter Mohammad Hafeez to become the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in T20Is. However, Azam had a quiet series with the bat, as he could only score 27 runs from his 3 appearances.