Babar Azam, the captain of the Pakistan cricket team, opened up about the comments and tweet made by his teammates, Mohammad Rizwan and Imam ul Haq, during the recently-concluded five-match ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand, which the hosts won by 4-1.
In the post-match press conference after the fifth ODI in Karachi, Babar shared his opinion on his teammates’ statements and clarified the team’s stance on the matter.
Before the third ODI in a presser in Karachi, Rizwan had expressed his desire to bat at number four in the batting-order and said that he is not happy batting at number five.
Pakistan captain, however, took a more measured approach to the situation and said that Rizwan shared his wish to bat up in the order but also emphasized that the players were well aware of the team’s requirements and priorities.
“Rizwan said it’s my wish to play at four but we will have to keep the team’s requirement in mind and that’s how we will communicate with the players. This is a team where no player says I want to play at this specific number,” Babar said.
“Everyone is playing for Pakistan and Rizwan has performed at both batting positions. Every player is striving for the team’s win and Rizwan is one of the best players…he has won us many games,” he added.
On the other hand, Imam posted a cryptic tweet on Sunday morning, which garnered a lot of attention from fans, who thought that the opener is disappointed after being dropped in the fourth and fifth ODI match against the Kiwis.
Babar said that the level of unity within the team was good and they have a culture of resolving any internal conflicts within the team itself, rather than taking them public.
“I haven’t checked my mobile and don’t know what Imam has tweeted. There are no disgruntled players in our team and the unity is good. We try to resolve our matters within ourselves and not take them out,” Babar replied to a question about Imam’s aforementioned tweet.
“We are like a family and our trust level is very good. I don’t think Imam’s tweet would be related to him being excluded from final two ODIs,” he added.
