KARACHI: Pakistan’s stand-in captain for the upcoming three T20Is against Afghanistan, Shadab Khan, has voiced his reverence to all-format skipper Babar Azam, calling himself a “Wazir”(minister) who represents the King in his absence.
Speaking at a post-match press conference on Thursday after his side Islamabad United lost to Peshawar Zalmi in the first eliminator of the Pakistan Super League season 8, Shadab said Babar was rested and since he was not there his minister would represent the monarch in his place.
“He is not former but our current captain” replied Shadab when a journalist called Babar, ‘former captain’.
“He is resting and since I am his Wazir, I will be in charge while he is not there” he added.
Talking about his team’s defeat in the knockout game of the tournament, Shadab said although they made a good comeback in the middle overs, the damage had already been done in the first 10 overs.
“As a captain and as a player, I believe the first 10 overs cost us the match” he expressed.
“Although we made a good comeback in the last 10 and restricted them, credit goes to their bowlers especially Aamer Jamal and Salman Irshad the way they bowled.”
“Babar has a vast captaincy experience in T20s, he made some good bowling changes in the latter half of our innings,” he added
“We lost back-to-back wickets after 10 overs and as a team, we could not put out our best”
Commenting on the bilateral T20I series against Afghanistan later this month in Sharjah, Pakistan’s stand-in captain for the forthcoming task hoped that people would see exciting cricket since he is leading a young and fresh-look team.
“It’s a good opportunity for the young players to prove themselves. In fact, it is also a chance for us as well to test our bench strength” Shadab said
He added that the Green Shirts had to play fearless but smart cricket, saying, “in modern-day cricket, you have to be both, fearless and smart,
“Because when you play fearlessly, there are more chances of failure. But when you are smart plus fearless, your success ratio increases” he concluded.
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