Alarm bells have gone off in the Asian camp after Pakistan’s second straight defeat in their home Test series against England. In the post-game press conference on Monday, Pakistani captain Babar Azam responded firmly to ideas of concentrating entirely on Twenty20 cricket following the team’s series defeat.
Ben Stokes’ visiting England side prevailed in a dramatic clash in Multan, sealing a slender 26-run victory to complete a memorable series victory on Pakistani soil. The Asian team put up a brave fight in Multan in an attempt to tie the series despite missing three of their series-leading ball-handlers.
After a lackluster performance in Multan, Pakistani captain Babar Azam, who has faced criticism from certain fans on social media, was sidelined when a reporter advised that he and Mohammad Rizwan concentrate on T20 matches. Babar was perplexed by the notion and responded to the journalist in an appropriate manner.
“Babar yeh fans k taraf se ek sawal hai, unka kehna tha Babar aur Rizwan jo hain, unko apna focus T20 pe karna chahiye, kyuki jaise woh out hote hain puri team down ho jati hain (This question is from the fans, who feel that Babar and Rizwan should focus in T20s. As they get out the rest of the team crumbles,)” the journalist quizzed. “Toh aap keh rahe hain Test chhor de? (So you are saying, we should stop playing Test?)” a visibly irritated Babar said interrupting the journalist’s question. “Sir, aisa kuch nahi soch rahe hum (Sir I’m not thinking anything like that,)” he further added on the question of focusing on T20 cricket.
In the first innings of the Multan Test, Babar Azam scored the most runs for his team, amassing a valiant 75. However, in the second innings, he was dismissed for just one run after being hit by a perfect delivery from Ollie Robinson, which put his team in danger of losing the game. During Pakistan’s pursuit, Mohammad Rizwan came out with good intentions, but his innings were ended at the score of 30 by an unplayable James Anderson delivery.
