Babar Azam opens up on captaincy, disappointing T20 World Cup campaign

“We did not perform well as a team, it isn’t because of one person that we lost,” skipper says

Facing criticism after Pakistan’s T20 World Cup disappointment, Babar Azam offered to relinquish his white-ball captaincy. However, he insisted the entire team shared accountability for the team’s struggles.

“We did not perform well as a team, it isn’t because of one person that we lost; we could not click as a team,” Babar said during a post-match press conference in Florida after his side beat Ireland.

Captain Babar guided Pakistan through a nervy chase as they ended their T20 World Cup campaign with a three-wicket win over Ireland in the last Group A match, a dead rubber after both teams were already eliminated.

Pakistan finished third in the five-team group with four points after losing to India and the United States, who progressed to the Super Eight stage.

The Green Shirts did not start their campaign on a high note as they lost to minnows US and then, despite restricting India to a low total, the batters could not perform.

“We did not play well as a team, it isn’t one man’s responsibility. Although I am the captain, I can’t be everywhere, just like I said, we didn’t click as a team,” the skipper said.

When it comes to captaincy, Babar said he had resigned when he thought that he should not continue and that he had announced it himself.

“It was returned to me by the PCB and when we go back, we will discuss what transpired here. In case I have to step down, I will announce it myself publicly,” he said.

“For now, I haven’t decided on it yet. If the PCB chairman thinks there’s a need for surgery, we’ll talk about it.”

At times, he said, the team was good with the bowl and not with the bat. “…but we could not click with the bat. Even when we had the match, we lost wickets which is why we lost two crucial matches. We were putting pressure on the other teams, but then we started losing wickets.”

Talking about the condition of the team, he said: “We are in more pain than you are in; players and the management, are all in pain. We could not play the level of cricket which was expected of us.”