Babar Azam, Pakistan skipper has urged his national team Pakistan to be aggressive and fearless in order to improve their record against the top teams in world cricket.
Pakistan’s recent tour of New Zealand saw them lose both the Test matches and the first two T20 internationals with their only victory coming in the inconsequential 3rd and final T20I in Napier.
Babar Azam Wants Team To Play Positive But Aggressive And Fearless Cricket
Babar Azam saw his team lose from the sidelines as he was ruled out of both series despite travelling with team with a fractured right thumb which he suffered during practice before the start of the T20Is.
But the 26-year-old will be seen back in action as he will lead in Pakistan’s historic home Test series against South Africa and wants his players to give nothing less than 100 per cent on the field. Babar Azam has captained Pakistan in 11 T20Is, 3 ODIs but is yet to captain Pakistan in Tests. Mohammed Rizwan captained in 2 Tests against the Kiwis in his absence.
“I want the team to play positive but aggressive and fearless cricket, especially in white-ball cricket if we want to challenge top teams. Usually we stop scoring runs if we lose one or two quick wickets and this is where I want the team’s mindset to change — even if you’ve lost two quick wickets, you must continue to add numbers to the scoreboard,” Babar Azam told former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raza via the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) digital platform.
“We need to be good enough against top-quality sides if we want ourselves to be considered as a topside and for that, we need to win series against top teams,” the skipper added.
Pakistan are all set to host South Africa for a series of 2 Tests and 3 T20Is in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore from January 26 to February 14. After the conclusion of the second Test, the Proteas Test squad will return home and a separate team shall play the three-match T20I series in Pakistan. Players of both teams entered the bio-secure bubble on January 19, and the squads will be trimmed to 16 ahead of the first Test.
Pakistan Hosted 3 Other Teams In Recent Times
The series marks the first time South Africa are touring Pakistan since 2007. Pakistan has hosted three other teams in recent times – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe – since the resumption of international cricket in the country in late 2019 almost a decade after Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by armed hooligans but the cricketers escaped with minor injuries in 2009.
Pakistan’s senior-most batsman Azhar Ali has made an appeal to the young guns in the team to brush aside their insecurities and express themselves freely against South Africa in the upcoming Test series. Last week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 20-member squad, including nine uncapped players, for the Test series that commences on January 26.
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