- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 218,132
Babar Azam speaking to the press ahead of the T20I series vs England:
"We've had just one day of practice before the white-ball series which starts tomorrow; I suppose its a question of having the right mindset for some of the players (who also played the red-ball game); The dedicated white-ball players have been practicing for a while now, and others have also practiced as soon we arrived here in Manchester so I don't think its a big problem; After red-ball cricket, you have to adjust to playing in a positive manner in white-ball cricket and to play with a changed mindset"
[Pressure on Babar's shoulders given he is the number on T20 batsman]
"There isn't that much pressure on me and I stick to my normal game plans and I don't complicate my batting; I do analyse my performances and try and stay positive for the benefit of my team"
[Haider Ali - has it been decided that he will be given a chance to play in this series?]
"Haider Ali is an outstanding player and good talent; We will try and make use of him as much as we can; He has been in this bubble with the side, he has practiced well and has been outstanding in practice games; We will take decisions[about playing Haider] based on what's best for the team"
[Babar disappointed about his performances in England; Will he give credit to Mickey Arthur for his faith in Babar at start of his Test career]
"I am disappointed that the England series did not go to my expectations and the starts I got, I couldn't convert into a big score; But I also learnt from this experience and analysed my mistakes, its my hope that I will not make such mistakes again in the future Test series and will score big runs"
"It feels bad when you are unable to score in the way you thought you would, and it is saddening when you are unable to meet the expectations of fans"
[Does Pakistan have an advantage over a less-stronger England T20I side?]
"We always come in to a series with the mindset that we have to win the series; No team can be considered to be easy opponents or that its [England team] unbalanced"
"They have players who have been playing T20Is for England and they also have some experienced players; We are expecting to stick to the plans we have made for this series"
[Is this series the start of prep for the WT20; Do you feel WT20 is possible to be played in a similar bio-secure environment]
"Yes, its possible; We have been in a bio-secure bubble for almost 2-2.5 months now, and none of us had any complaints about this; This also gave us time to think about cricket and to talk with each other about cricket; So during this time there is nothing else to do apart from playing cricket which is a good thing"
"As the WT20 has been postponed to a later date, we are using that time to analyse and to think about what will suit us most where the World Cup will be played, and we will build our team based on that and decide which player will be suitable for that"
[Chances of winning vs England]
"You always take confidence from good results of your previous series so I am hopeful that we will win this series; Players are confident and have a lot of hunger to win the series and all want to give their 110% for Pakistan; When you have a positive group of players like these, then the results will also be good"
[Goal of scoring 100 in T20Is]
"I have yet to score a 100 in T20Is and that is my goal; And to be honest, I am hoping that I can get that hundred in this series, so please do pray for me"
[Sarfaraz or Rizwan for T20I series]
"Rizwan played outstandingly well in the Test series and is in good form; We have been the top ranked T20I team under Sarfaraz; Both are in good touch; Sometimes its a difficult choice when both the keepers are in good form but we will take the decision which is best for us"
[Should preference be given to players who play for the team and not for their careers like Amir & Wahab]
"No one who is in this squad is someone who is just thinking only about themselves or only interested in their own career; They all think about what's best for the side; We will utilize the best possible combination for this side"
[Shadab Khan's role based upon his PSL performances]
"We all saw how outstanding Shadab was with his batting and bowling during the PSL so we will also look to utilize him for Pakistan; We will look to send him up the order depending on our plans"
[Who do you feel is important in the side when it comes to batting]
"Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and there is Iftikhar Ahmad on whom I have a lot if confidence as he played so well in Australia for us; Then you have Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim - from top to bottom our team is well balanced, and all players have been playing well"
[Low scores by Pakistan in T20Is - is that a concern]
"We didn't score as well as we wanted to in the previous T20I series; For this series we have planned to score 150, 160, 170 runs which should give some edge to our bowlers; Our message to the side is to play with a positive mindset and not to feel under pressure; If a top order batsman is set, then we are asking him to go all the way to end of the innings"
"We've had just one day of practice before the white-ball series which starts tomorrow; I suppose its a question of having the right mindset for some of the players (who also played the red-ball game); The dedicated white-ball players have been practicing for a while now, and others have also practiced as soon we arrived here in Manchester so I don't think its a big problem; After red-ball cricket, you have to adjust to playing in a positive manner in white-ball cricket and to play with a changed mindset"
[Pressure on Babar's shoulders given he is the number on T20 batsman]
"There isn't that much pressure on me and I stick to my normal game plans and I don't complicate my batting; I do analyse my performances and try and stay positive for the benefit of my team"
[Haider Ali - has it been decided that he will be given a chance to play in this series?]
"Haider Ali is an outstanding player and good talent; We will try and make use of him as much as we can; He has been in this bubble with the side, he has practiced well and has been outstanding in practice games; We will take decisions[about playing Haider] based on what's best for the team"
[Babar disappointed about his performances in England; Will he give credit to Mickey Arthur for his faith in Babar at start of his Test career]
"I am disappointed that the England series did not go to my expectations and the starts I got, I couldn't convert into a big score; But I also learnt from this experience and analysed my mistakes, its my hope that I will not make such mistakes again in the future Test series and will score big runs"
"It feels bad when you are unable to score in the way you thought you would, and it is saddening when you are unable to meet the expectations of fans"
[Does Pakistan have an advantage over a less-stronger England T20I side?]
"We always come in to a series with the mindset that we have to win the series; No team can be considered to be easy opponents or that its [England team] unbalanced"
"They have players who have been playing T20Is for England and they also have some experienced players; We are expecting to stick to the plans we have made for this series"
[Is this series the start of prep for the WT20; Do you feel WT20 is possible to be played in a similar bio-secure environment]
"Yes, its possible; We have been in a bio-secure bubble for almost 2-2.5 months now, and none of us had any complaints about this; This also gave us time to think about cricket and to talk with each other about cricket; So during this time there is nothing else to do apart from playing cricket which is a good thing"
"As the WT20 has been postponed to a later date, we are using that time to analyse and to think about what will suit us most where the World Cup will be played, and we will build our team based on that and decide which player will be suitable for that"
[Chances of winning vs England]
"You always take confidence from good results of your previous series so I am hopeful that we will win this series; Players are confident and have a lot of hunger to win the series and all want to give their 110% for Pakistan; When you have a positive group of players like these, then the results will also be good"
[Goal of scoring 100 in T20Is]
"I have yet to score a 100 in T20Is and that is my goal; And to be honest, I am hoping that I can get that hundred in this series, so please do pray for me"
[Sarfaraz or Rizwan for T20I series]
"Rizwan played outstandingly well in the Test series and is in good form; We have been the top ranked T20I team under Sarfaraz; Both are in good touch; Sometimes its a difficult choice when both the keepers are in good form but we will take the decision which is best for us"
[Should preference be given to players who play for the team and not for their careers like Amir & Wahab]
"No one who is in this squad is someone who is just thinking only about themselves or only interested in their own career; They all think about what's best for the side; We will utilize the best possible combination for this side"
[Shadab Khan's role based upon his PSL performances]
"We all saw how outstanding Shadab was with his batting and bowling during the PSL so we will also look to utilize him for Pakistan; We will look to send him up the order depending on our plans"
[Who do you feel is important in the side when it comes to batting]
"Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and there is Iftikhar Ahmad on whom I have a lot if confidence as he played so well in Australia for us; Then you have Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim - from top to bottom our team is well balanced, and all players have been playing well"
[Low scores by Pakistan in T20Is - is that a concern]
"We didn't score as well as we wanted to in the previous T20I series; For this series we have planned to score 150, 160, 170 runs which should give some edge to our bowlers; Our message to the side is to play with a positive mindset and not to feel under pressure; If a top order batsman is set, then we are asking him to go all the way to end of the innings"
