Pakistan vs England 2022

‘Aapko lagta hai meri performance..’ – Babar Azam’s blunt reply to journalist questioning the effect of captaincy on his batting

Pakistan are all set to face England in the third Test and final Test of the series on Saturday at National Stadium, Karachi. Being 2-0 behind in the series, Pakistan will look to avoid a whitewash in the third Test.

The Babar Azam-led side faced back-to-back defeats in Rawalpindi and Multan Test as questions were raised over Pakistan’s approach in both matches and Babar Azam’s captaincy. During a pre-match press conference, the skipper was asked whether the leadership role has had an impact on his performance.

However, Babar wasn’t too impressed with the question and threw a counter-question towards the reporter: “Aapko lagta hai meri performance pe farak pad raha hai? (Do you think it is impacting my performance?),” Babar asked.

The reporter further clarified that she meant it in terms of team’s overall performance. To which Babar replied that the side has faced a number of injuries throughout the series that has had a negative impact.

“Hamne jitne Test match khele hain, hamne dominate kiya hai. Ham struggle kar rahe hain kyunki injuries kafi ho gayi hai, hamaara combination disturb hua hai jiski vajah se results nahi aa rahe. (We have dominated in both Tests. We struggled because our players got injured and it disturbed our combination. That’s why we didn’t get the desired results),” Babar said.

We have to work on playing under pressure: Babar Azam

Babar, further, added that the team had both matches in hand but couldn’t finish them properly.

“Dono matches hamaare haath me the, ham finish nahi kar paaye. As a team, hamein kaam karna hai situation pe aur pressure me hamein cheezo ko kaise apni taraf laana hai. Aisa nahi hai ki kisi ek bande se team haar rahi hai, meri vajah se kuch aisa ho raha hai. Koshish ye hi hoti hai ki best XI khilaayi jaaye aur unse kaam liya jaaye. Players support kar rahe hain. (Both games were in our hands but we couldn’t finish. As a team, we have to work on playing under pressure. It isn’t as if we are losing because of one player. We always try to play our best XI and make the best use of it),” said Babar further.