Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Technical Committee chairman Misbahul Haq on Monday defended national team skipper Babar Azam as his side came under massive criticism following its performance in the recently concluded Asia Cup.
At a press conference, Haq, who is also former captain of the national team, admitted the mistakes made by the team in matches of the tournament.
Last week, the Indian top order completely dominated Pakistan, who had no answer to the batting onslaught by Virat Kohli and K.L. Rahul.
Asked to chase a gigantic total of 357, Babar Azam and his men could not rise to the occasion and folded for 128. The failure sparked massive criticism on captaincy of Babar Azam.
Amid the criticism, Misbahul Haq hoped that the national team would stage a comeback in the upcoming ODI World Cup, which is set to begin in Oct 5 in India.
He remarked that the performance of team in the Asia Cup was disappointing but at the same time he highlighted that win and loss were part of the game.
The burden of the high-margin defeat could not only be put on Babar Azam’s shoulder, he said, adding: “It’s a failure of the whole team”.
Responding to a question about the World Cup squad, he said the board should not take any decision in haste. He also opposed extensive changes in the team, saying such a move could disturb the team’s chemistry and serve a blow to the players’ morale.
