Pakistan captain Babar Azam has sent out a message of optimism and positiveness to the Pakistan fans before the players departed for India for the World Cup 2023.
The Pakistan team will fly from Lahore to Dubai, from where they will fly to Hyderabad, where they will play their two warm-up matches, against New Zealand and Australia.
It has been a tough past month for the Pakistan team. Even though they started the Asia Cup 2023 with big wins over Nepal and Bangladesh, their campaign fell of with losses to India and Sri Lanka, and they finished 4th in the Super 4 round. To make matters worse, fast bowler Naseem Shah injured his shoulder and is ruled out of the World Cup.
Amid this turmoil, Babar Azam has assured the Pakistani fans that his side has learned from the mistakes in the Asia Cup.
“Before the last two games in the Asia Cup, we were doing really well with the same team. Although we could not deliver the way we could, but we have learned from our mistakes, as individuals and as a team. We have discussed all our mistakes as a team with the support staff,” Babar Azam told reporters before departing to India for the World Cup,” Babar said.
World Cup is entirely different: Babar Azam
With the loss of Naseem Shah, Pakistan’s chances to win their second ODI World Cup have taken a big dent. They have recalled experienced pacer Hasan Ali for the mega event once again. Hasan Ali was the main man in their 2017 Champions Trophy win. Pakistan have also dropped all-rounder Faheem Ashraf from the squad, while young and inexperienced Usama Mir made the final 15.
“Asia Cup was a different tournament, World Cup is entirely different, so we will plan accordingly. We cannot comment on combinations without assessing the conditions first. We will go with whatever works best for the Pakistan team,” the Pakistani captain added.
Pakistan squad for the World Cup 2023:
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Hasan Ali
