‘The pitch wasn’t very difficult and as a professional, you have to adapt’ – Babar Azam
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said the state of the pitch in Harare being difficult for batsmen is not true as professional players must be able to adapt to all sorts of conditions.
Babar’s statement comes after Pakistan were unable to chase down 119 against Zimbabwe in the second T20I at Harare. The visitors were bundled out for 99, giving Zimbabwe their first-ever victory over Pakistan in a T20I game.
“The wicket wasn’t that difficult, it was suitable and as a professional player this is no excuse, you have to adapt,” said Babar in a video released by the Pakistan Cricket Board. “As opening batsmen, we couldn’t provide the start which we should’ve given and our middle order was struggling.”
The performance also puts down a question mark over the consistency of Pakistan side, who recently chased down 204 in a similar format on their white-ball tour of South Africa. But today, Pakistan batting struggled to kick off as dot ball pressure kept on mounting.
“It’s a very disappointing performance, the way we chased down over 200 in South Africa, we should’ve won this very easily,” Babar said. “We played poor cricket and our middle order is really struggling which is the reason why we couldn’t finish this off.”
Babar blamed the whole batting unit for the loss but also praised the Zimbabwean side for their strong comeback after facing a loss in the closely fought first T20I.
“I think our batting group as a whole collapsed today which is the reason why we lost. We should give credit to the Zimbabwean side for the way they made a comeback.”
The T20 World Cup also looms which raises a few questions over Pakistan’s combination getting set for the big tournament in India in October/November this year. Pakistan’s middle order woes also continue which presents a massive challenge for the team management to sort out.
“T20 World Cup is around the corner now, we should sort out this thing and make a strong comeback in the next game and play rest of the games with a good combination,” he concluded.
The three-match series is now squared 1-1. The third and final T20I will be played on April 25.
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