Confident our team will do well in the T20 World Cup: Babar Azam

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Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan’s limited overs side, said that he is keen on learning the art of captaincy with the presence of legends in the dressing room itself. He is confident that Pakistan will return to form in T20Is and do well, if and when the T20 World Cup is held.

“If the World Cup is held according to schedule, I’m confident that our team will do well in it,” as there is uncertainty over the future of this year’s T20 World Cup due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“As a professional cricketer I hope that the T20 World Cup is held according to schedule. As Pakistan’s captain I would really want that the World Cup is not delayed as it will be my first World Cup as skipper. But it’s up to the authorities to decide,” Azam added.

Pakistan were on top of the T20I rankings for thee years before the slipped down, due to poor performances in 2019 as they won only one out of the 10 matches they played in the format.

“Yes, we did lose a few matches and our ranking has unfortunately gone down. What happened is that we did some experimentation and tried out several players. We are now sure about the combination, which includes both youth and experience. I’m confident that we will do well in the T20 series against England and improve our ranking.”

Confident our team will do well in the T20 World Cup: Babar Azam | Babar Azam keen to learn about captaincy from Pakistan legends.
Confident our team will do well in the T20 World Cup: Babar Azam

Ahead of the England tour, Pakistan team management has roped in several legendary names like Waqar Younis, Younus Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed in addition to Mishbah ul Haq who is the head coach. Babar Azam, who has only captained in five T20Is so far, is very keen on learning the art of captaincy from these stalwarts and he believes their presence in the dressing room will benefit the players immensely.

“I and other players will benefit immensely from their presence. They are four of our greatest legends. They have loads of experience. It’s our duty to learn from them and I’m sure all of us will do that … I’m keen to learn the art of captaincy from them.” the 25 year-old said.

The skipper showered praise on the former coach, Mickey Arthur and the current coach.

“Mickey really supported me. He gave me confidence. He rated me highly even when I was very much a newcomer. He backed me all the time. The best thing about him was he had great trust in my abilities. I must add that Misbah bhai is no different. He really backs me and has confidence in me. It really helps when your coach trusts you.”

Pakistan will play England only later this month but Azam is happy that they are getting more time for preparation.

“When you don’t play cricket for three months it does make a difference. But the good thing is that we have one extra month to prepare ourselves for the Tests,” he explained. “I was pleasantly surprised to see each and every boy was fit. That’s a good start.

“The next part is to play and practise as much as we can because the more you practise the better you get. We have lined up a series of training sessions and practice matches so I’m sure by the time the Test series begins we will be ready for it.”

Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.

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