Pakistan captain Babar Azam is wary of England’s stunning line-up before the all-important T20 World Cup 2022 final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, November 13. Azam applauded England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales for their stellar showing against India in the semi-final but backed his bowling attack as well.
England reached the T20 World Cup final after a 10-wicket victory over India. Buttler and Hales added an unbroken 170-run stand to chase down 169 in only 16 overs. Hales earned the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten 86 off 47 balls as well. In a pre-match press conference, Babar Azam recalled the recent T20 series on home soil with England and how thrilling it had been.
However, he praised Pakistan’s remarkable comeback in the ongoing tournament and backed them for their semi-final performance.
Babar Azam said: “England is one of the best teams. We had a series with them and it was competitive cricket. Jos and Alex Hales played outstandingly in the semi-final but we will try to give our best in the final.”We have one of the best pace attacks and we will try to stick to our strength and execute our plans.”We lost the first two matches but the way the team made a comeback in the last four matches and performed very well. We have been playing good cricket in the last four matches. We will try to continue that momentum in the final.”
However, Babar Azam also underlined the importance of the powerplay in both innings, saying that it has played a key role in this tournament.
“You have to utilise the powerplay, be it in bowling or in batting. In bowling, you try to execute your plans and try to take wickets early on and put the other team under pressure. And when you are batting, you try to set the tone so that it becomes easy for the incoming batters. Here, powerplay matters a lot. We have the momentum and we will try to execute our plans in the final,” Babar Azam concluded.
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