KARACHI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said that the final XI for the first Test against New Zealand will be decided after discussions with chairman of selectors Shahid Afridi and insisted that the players who are best for the team will be played. There will be a chance.
Speaking ahead of the first Test, Babar admitted that Pakistan made some mistakes in the three-match series against England but the players are now confident of a good show against New Zealand.
He added that the players are not worried about the management changes across the board and are focused on what they can do on the ground.
“Things have changed in the last two-three days but as a professional, you have to face such things. Our job is to try on the ground, perform and apply what we have. Things are off the ground and our focus is on the ground, how to win matches, how to get off to a good start in the series and how to perform well in all three areas of the game.
“We didn’t play the last series the way we wanted because we made small mistakes that set us back. Now we need to overcome these mistakes and try to play good cricket,” Babar said.
Babar added that the final XI for the first Test has not been decided and the final decision will be taken after consultation with Shahid Afridi – the newly elected chairman of selectors.
The Pakistan captain said that the selection committee also consulted three players before including them in the Test squad last night.
“We will discuss with the selectors. After that we will decide the final eleven, what is best for the team we will pick, it is not about who to play it is about the best combination, what is best for the team, ” They said.
“We discussed how we take it forward. That is [the chief selector’s] own thinking. I gave my opinion and then we decided,” said Babar on whether Mir Hamza, Sajid Khan. And Shahnawaz was involved in the decision to include the team.
Babar said that the pitch looks like what he saw during the series against Australia. It changes day by day and things will be different, he added.
The captain said that it is easy to say from outside that he was not an aggressive captain but things are very different on the pitch.
“Even when I’m sitting out and watching the game, I feel like he should have done this or that but things in the middle are not like you see them from the outside.”
Pakistan captain said that I adopt my strategy by seeing how my opponent is playing.
Babar insisted that Pakistan’s batting had done well in the previous series as well but in patches.
“In Tests, you have to bat for a long time. You have to be patient as a batting unit. I think the bowling will also come back because we had some injuries so our batting line-up is strong at the moment,” he highlighted.
When asked about his thoughts on players publicly posting comments in his favor on social media, Babar said that everyone has their own mentality and players always support each other.
This is our unity and unity, not that they are just supporting me, they support each other. Such things come up when you lose. All players support each other. As a player and captain I keep myself in my zone. Yes, we have lost a series but God willing we will bounce back,” he said.
“To be honest, I don’t take pressure. If you take pressure, your game goes down. I’m sure it’s a new day, a new team and a new match so things will be different,” he concluded. derived
Test squad
Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imamul Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Durmani, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood
Revised itinerary
26-30 December – First Test, Karachi
January 2-6 – Second Test, Karachi
January 9 – First ODI, Karachi
January 11 – Second ODI, Karachi
January 13 – 3rd ODI, Karachi
