Pakistan all-format skipper Babar Azam highly praises the interim Head Coach Saqlain Mushtaq who has been supportive and dedicative towards the side for his short period.
Pakistan all-format skipper Babar Azam admires the interim Head Coach Saqlain Mushtaq who played a supportive and dedicative role towards the side for his short period.
Saqlain was given charge of the Pakistan team for a short period after Misbah-ul-Haq resigned from his position after the postponement of the New Zealand series.
The 27-year-old said that Saqlain has been very supportive throughout and backs every individual member of the team.
“Saqlain Mushtaq always backs us. He sits with us and discusses plans which are best for the team. Saqlain Mushtaq suggests to players that Pakistan should be at the first priority because we play for a nation of twenty-two crore and we owe to give them happiness,”
Babar said in a pre-series virtual presser.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam open-heartedly welcomes the West Indian team and is optimistic to play the best cricket despite not much big names in the West Indian squad.
“We give a warm welcome to WestIndies in Pakistan. After the cancellation of the New Zealand and England tour we were unclear whether other teams will come to Pakistan or not but they always supported us,”
he added.
“We will try to maintain our performance [the team is] continuing to show since the T20 World Cup 2021. Always there is a debate that big names are not part of the squad but we can’t take them lightly,”
he maintained.
Pakistan leg-spinner and vice-captain, Shadab Khan said in a statement that players are ready to lay down their lives for the skipper. The no.1 ranked T20I batter opined that a positive environment in the dressing room is necessary and he backs every player in the team.
“As captain, you’ve to build a supportive environment for your teammates as players demand encouragement when they’re down in performance. My players listen and take responsibility. We only have performance and hard work in our hands and that’s what we believe in,”
he added.
It must be noted that Pakistan will play West Indies for three T20Is and as many ODI in Karachi, starting from December 13, Monday.
‘Special message for the fans’
On the eve of Sunday before the start of the first T20I on Monday, Babar Azam shares a special message with his fans.
Babar Azam shared a message in a video that was posted by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) social media handle on Sunday.
“My message to the fans is that I and my team are waiting for you all at the ground. We always enjoy playing in Karachi. We get a lot of support from the people here. The way people cheer for us on the ground and on social media, I am hopeful that people will support us the same way this time around,”
Azam said in the video message.
Pakistan skippers also requested the fans to adopt the safety measures while entering the ground following the fears of the pandemic.
“The main thing is that you should be mindful of the SOP. Do wear a mask because your safety is very important,”
the 27-year-old Azam added.
Pakistan is set to host West Indies after a successful tour of Bangladesh.
The men in green secured a convincing 3-0 clean-sweep win in the three-match T20I series in Dhaka, Bangladesh before clean-sweeping the two-match Test series 2-0.
Pakistan had earlier reached the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in the UAE, where they won all their games in the Super 12 stage before losing the knockout game to Australia in the last encounter.