“It happens,” says Babar Azam after Shadab Khan dropped a key catch in the New Zealand match.
Pakistan’s captain, Babar Azam, spoke up for his second-in-command, Shadab Khan, after he played poorly in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
In the last T20I of the five-match series between Pakistan and New Zealand, Shadab missed Chapman’s catch when the batter was on the ground with 67 runs.
This let the New Zealand player get his first T20I century and helped the Black Caps tie the series at 2-2.
“It does happen sometimes. Shadab has been having a hard time. But it’s a sign of a good cricket player that they can come back from a low point. This has already happened. After the fifth T20I, the captain said, “I hope Shadab will step up to the challenge and make the most of the next series.”
Shadab Khan gave up 29 runs in just two overs and never had a good game with either the bat or the ball during the series.
“It was a knockout punch. Getting rid of Chapman at that time could have helped Pakistan. “But no player does it on purpose,” said Babar.
Pakistan’s all-format captain felt the same way about opening batter Mohammad Rizwan, who did not go all out in the last few overs as he tried to get to his second T20 hundred.
“In the last few overs, we could have added about 15 to 20 runs. We got off to a great start, and it looked like we would score a lot in the last ten overs. We were not able to do that at that time. When a player gets close to 100, it’s normal for him to feel pressure. Rizwan is not to blame for that. Pakistan got close to 200 because of his hitting,” he said.
When asked why he didn’t use Iftikhar in the attack against two left-handed hitters, Babar said it was because he wanted to use his best bowler.
“The second choice was Iftikhar. I thought that the best bowling tools should be used, so that’s what I did,” he said.
Babar said that he always thought about the decisions he made as captain.
“It’s become a habit for me to think about every move I make during a game. “Sometimes I think I made the right choice, and when I don’t, I try not to make the same mistake again,” he said.
Babar put an end to the idea that Pakistani bowlers had a hard time when Eid holidays came around.
“We have every right to celebrate Eid with our families. We play cricket for a living. “Just because we took a few days off doesn’t mean we can’t work hard the next day,” he said.
Babar said that a few other players will join the team for the upcoming one-day series.
“A few other people who will be here for the one-day game are already training. He said, “I hope that we will do our best in the next series and that we will want to win it.”
The first ODI will be played on April 27 in Rawalpindi.
April 29 — 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi
May 3: Third ODI, Karachi
May 5: Karachi, 4th ODI
5th ODI, Karachi, May 7.
