Since taking over the reins as Pakistan captain, Babar Azam has truly taken the men's national cricket team forward. With Babar at the helm, Pakistan have produced some memorable performances. But, there do remain a few who are skeptical of Babar's style of leadership, especially ahead of the start of the T20 World Cup 2022. In the press conference after the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh in New Zealand on Thursday, Babar was asked about the criticism from a journalist over his captaincy. The Pakistan skipper gave a polite yet firm response to the question.
Pakistan have been engaged in a tri-series involving Bangladesh and New Zealand. The sub-continent giants booked their spot in the final, having won 3 of their 4 matches of the tri-series.
On Thursday, Babar led the team from the front, scoring 55 off 40 balls to help his team overhaul Bangladesh's total of 173 runs at Christchurch. After the game, the Pakistan skipper brilliantly handled questions about his captaincy in the press conference.
"I don't know aap kiski baat kar rahe hain. Jiska naam liya hai main unko jaanta bhi nahi. Ye cheezein chalti hain, achha bhi karte hain toh bhi chalti hai. But ham log bother nahi karte, koshish karte hain ki jitna confidence team ko diya jaaye, aur jitna unity bani hui hai usko chalaate rahein (I don't know who you are talking about. These things happen, even when we perform well, it happens. But we don't bother, we just try to keep team's confidence and unity intact)," Babar said in the post-match conference on being asked about the criticism of his captaincy by a journo.
"Koshish ye hi rehti hai ki ham apna 100 percent de aur jeetein. Kabhi kabhi ham to the mark nahi hote, par ham discussion karte hain aur sochte hain ki kahan ham achha kar sakte hain. (We try to give our 100 percent and win. Sometimes, we are not up to the mark, but we discuss and plan about things where we can improve)," he added.
Pakistan and New Zealand will meet each other in the final on Friday. The title-decider will also be held in Christchurch.