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"Our white-ball cricket year was a good one": Babar Azam reviews 2022

MenInG

PakPassion Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Runs
218,155
Speaking in PCB's year-end podcast

2022 was an incredibly busy year for the national men’s and women’s cricketers in the international arena. The men’s side played a total of 44 international matches (nine Tests, nine ODIs and 26 T20Is) and reached the finals of the ACC Asia Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup besides hosting Australia, West Indies, England and New Zealand, while the women’s side featured in 32 internationals (13 ODIs and 19 T20Is) and participated in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, besides hosting Sri Lanka and Ireland.

Babar Azam, who appeared in all 44 internationals and finished as the most successful batter in the world with 2,598 runs, reflecting on the year said: “Our performances in white-ball cricket upstaged our achievements in red-ball cricket. We reached the finals in the UAE and Australia, and though we didn’t perform the way we had expected in red-ball cricket, three sides ranked above Pakistan played in Pakistan that provided us a huge learning opportunity and also entertained our fans.

“In T20 cricket, my favourite match was the win against India in the repeat fixture of the Asia Cup as it was a crucial game for us in terms of a place in the final. In Test cricket, victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle was outstanding as we chased down 342 for the loss of six wickets on a difficult track. Abdullah Shafique was magnificent in the second innings when he scored 160 not out.”

Bismah Maroof: “The highlight of our World Cup campaign was the victory over the West Indies, which was our first in 13 years in the pinnacle event. We also won five of the six ODIs against Sri Lanka and Ireland at home to move up to second in the ICC Women’s Championship, while we defeated India in Sylhet for the first time since 2014 though we missed out on the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup final after losing to Sri Lanka by one-run in the semi-final.”

The women’s team performance was also reflected in the ICC Player of the Month awards when Tuba Hassan (May), Nida Dar (October) and Sidra Ameen (November) won international recognitions.

In 2022, Bangladesh U19 also visited Pakistan, former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali announced his retirement from international cricket, Lahore Qalandars won their maiden HBL Pakistan Super League title in front of home fans at the Gaddafi Stadium, Sindh clinched the National T20 silverware, Northern lifted the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, while AH Kardar and Younis Khan were inducted into the PCB Hall of Fame.
 
Some other facts for 2022:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pakistan's record in ODIs in 2022:<br><br>Played 9<br>Won 8 (3 v Netherlands, 3 v W Indies & 2 v Australia)<br>Lost 1 (v Australia)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1609138971526709249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pakistan in the 'relegation zone' in the World Test Championship standings. In 2022 their Test record is:<br><br>Played 9<br>Won 1<br>Lost 5<br>Drawn 3<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/VO1HGzutbJ">pic.twitter.com/VO1HGzutbJ</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1609136460107489281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Good year?

- lost T20I series at home to Australia
- lost T20I series at home to England
- lost the Asia Cup Final
- lost the T20 World Cup Final
- lost to Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup

The only good series win Limited Overs was the 2-1 win vs Australia at home in the ODI series, however, that too came against a heavily depleted Australian side that was missing 4-5 first choice players.

Pakistan had a very mediocre year in all formats. The fact that losing two finals is considered a success shows the poor standards & expectations established by the captain.

He has minnow mentality & is demanding very little from himself & his players. He is clearly not worthy of being called a leader.

A totally inept captain who is begging to be removed from the role so that he can focus on his stat-padding with the bat & continue to score impact-less runs.
 
Good year?

- lost T20I series at home to Australia
- lost T20I series at home to England
- lost the Asia Cup Final
- lost the T20 World Cup Final
- lost to Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup

The only good series win Limited Overs was the 2-1 win vs Australia at home in the ODI series, however, that too came against a heavily depleted Australian side that was missing 4-5 first choice players.

Pakistan had a very mediocre year in all formats. The fact that losing two finals is considered a success shows the poor standards & expectations established by the captain.

He has minnow mentality & is demanding very little from himself & his players. He is clearly not worthy of being called a leader.

A totally inept captain who is begging to be removed from the role so that he can focus on his stat-padding with the bat & continue to score impact-less runs.

Fully agreed. T20 is the only format where Pakistan look half decent, but we choked in the big matches.

We lost to a weak Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Final having reduced them to 58-5. We had an almighty meltdown against India and Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup, and only qualified from the group after Netherlands provided a reprieve.

The much vaunted Babar-Rizwan opening combination was found out in seam friendly Australian conditions, and Babar's captaincy in all formats has been appalling despite PCB's social media campaigns to paint him as some Churchillian figure.
 
PCB celebrating 2022

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/qo249r" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
Hardly great in T20Is:

Pakistan's record in T20Is in 2022:

Played 26
Won 14
Lost 12
 
PCB celebrating 2022

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/qo249r" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>

Pure, unadulterated cringe this video.

The white ball year though was a good one without question.
2 consecutive finals in different conditions clearly showed pakistan is a top t20 team. Some explosive bowling and occasional batting performances too.
 
I guess it depends on whether you look at things glass half full or half empty.
Getting to the finals of two international T20 comps is creditworthy, though both had high elements of luck. The inability to seal the wins, especially against Sri Lanka were most disappointing.

T20 is the only area in which Pakistan is competitive— the longer the game, the worse we are.
 
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