Pakistan skipper Babar Azam broke his silence on reports about the alleged rift between him and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. He squashed the rumours and shared that it was just a normal meeting with the players and not a fight between him and Shaheen.
Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in a thrilling virtual knockout match in the 2023 Asia Cup. Following the loss, some reports claimed a rift in the dressing room as Babar and Shaheen shared heated exchanges. However, Babar has refuted the claims. He also attended Shaheen Afridi’s wedding recently.
“Respect is given to everyone. You see, whenever the match is close and we lose, it’s just a regular meeting, but sometimes it’s portrayed as if we had a fight. It shouldn’t be like that. Respect should remain constant for everyone. We love each other as much as we do our family,” said Babar Azam while addressing a press conference before leaving for India for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
We have done our research: Babar Azam
The 2023 ICC ODI World Cup will be an opportunity for most of the Pakistan players to play in Indian conditions. Only Mohammad Nawaz and Agha Salman have played in India before. Babar missed the 2016 T20 World Cup which was held in India due to injury. Talking about playing in Indian conditions for the first time, he said,
“Although we have not played in India before, we are not taking too much pressure. We have done our research and we have heard the conditions are similar to how they play out in other Asian countries,” said the Pakistan skipper.
Pakistan will play against New Zealand and Australia in the warm-up matches leading into the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. They will kick off their campaign in the championship against the Netherlands on Friday, October 6 in Hyderabad.
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