Babar Azam, after Pakistan’s loss in the first ODI, has admitted that the Asian side could not build up a partnership at the top, which ultimately cost them the match. He also insisted that the batting order isn’t dependent on him and added that the team can turn around the setback into a win.
While Ben Stokes’ wishes were fulfilled by his bowlers in the first ODI in Cardiff, Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam rued his side’s missed opportunity in the first encounter, with the top-order being reduced to 26/4 within the powerplay overs. However, the focus was on the No.1 ranked ODI batsman, who got out without troubling the scorers, with a second-ball duck.
However, in the post-match press conference, Babar Azam admitted that the lack of partnerships at the top of the order cost the Asian side big time against the hosts. At the same time, he added that the bowlers targetted brilliant channels, which resulted in the quick wickets at the top.
“Yes, we were quite aware of these players, we had watched him or played with them in the past in the County. The bowlers bowled brilliantly and we will definitely bounce back in the second ODI. We will try to do better in the next game for sure,” Babar Azam admitted.
Azam also insisted that the team was not complacent and took on the newly arranged English XI as the No.1 team and tried their level best to beat them.
“No no, we were not complacent, unfortunately, we lost a lot of wickets, we couldn’t put on a partnership. We don’t think about these things, whichever team we play, we would play with 100%. We were not relaxed, we knew that they are the No.1 team, so we definitely tried to play our best cricket.”
With criticism surrounding the fact that this Pakistan team is dependent on the right-hander for runs, Babar stated that the likes of Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammed Rizwan have also played crucial knocks, which has resulted in their win in the past.
“I don’t think the batting is dependent on me, if you look at the series against South Africa, Fakhar Zaman played really well and made some important runs, Imam-ul-Haq and Rizwan too played well. It was a bad day for us and we will definitely bounce back in the next encounter.”
Despite their terrible show, the Pakistan skipper stated that there was no need to ‘panic’ and admitted that he has his entire confidence on his side to turn things around, starting from the second ODI.
“I have entire confidence in our team that we can turn it around, I will definitely tell them that there is nothing to be scared of and will give them the confidence. As a team and a player, the faster we learn from our mistakes, the better we will perform in the future.”
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