Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, hit his stride in the T20 World Cup of 2022. Babar, who had been struggling for runs for the majority of the tournament, finally scored a half-century as Pakistan defeated New Zealand in the semifinal. However, Babar was asked an awkward question by a reporter during the press conference the day before the championship game. The Pakistani captain found the question to be so awkward that he briefly lost his voice before the media manager stepped in.
Babar Azam received criticism for the majority of the duration of the competition due to both the run production from his bat and some of his captaincy choices. A journalist questioned Babar about whether he thought playing in the Indian Premier League would have been advantageous for him and his team given the kind of campaign Pakistan had so far.
“Talk about the benefits of playing the IPL, is that something you feel would have helped you and your team and is that something you have any hope for in the future?,” the journalist asked Babar in the presser. Babar remained silent throughout the question and turned his attention to the team’s media coordinator, who then stepped in. The media manager said: “We are taking questions on the World Cup final at the moment.” When asked about his feelings of anticipation for the final match against England, Babar responded that he was more excited than nervous.
“I’m more excited than nervous since we’ve performed well in our last three matches. It is no doubt that pressure exists but it can only be suppressed with confidence and belief in ourselves. And for good results it is impertinent that one must do so,” he said. “England is a competitive team, their win to reach the finals against India was a proof of that. Our strategy is to stick to our plan and using our pace attack as our strength to win the finals,” he added. The Pakistani team’s 1992 ODI World Cup campaign and the 2022 T20 World Cup campaign share uncanny similarities. Babar would be eager to clear the last obstacle and claim the prize.
