‘I will not hide behind anything’ – Babar Azam issues defiant statement after Pakistan’s first round exit from T20 World Cup

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was at the center of attention as he addressed the media in Florida on Sunday, June 16. The right-handed batter had just come off the park after scoring an unbeaten 32 against Ireland. The Pakistani side survived a scare before beating Ireland by three wickets to end their tournament with some positivity. 

Once Babar Azam sat down to face the media, one of the earliest questions was the reason behind Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup. The 29-year-old opened the interaction by saying that they lost not because of any one individual.

“I told you that we did not lose this because of one particular person. We win and lose as a team. You are pointing out that I am the captain, but I cannot play in every player's place. There are 11 players, and each of them has a role. That's why they came here to play the World Cup. I think we have not been able to play well as a team. We have to settle down and accept that we didn't play well as a team," said Babar.

Pakistan failed to qualify for the Super-8 stages after the match between United States of America and Ireland was washed out. This meant that co-hosts USA qualified as the second-placed side from Group A into the next phase of the campaign. 

There have been reports of rifts and players not getting along with each other in the Pakistani camp. The six-run loss to India saw fans train their guns on Imad Wasim in particular over his inability to get going with the bat. It was a tough loss considering that Pakistan had to chase down only 120 runs. Despite their win over Canada, the 2009 T20 World Cup winners failed to salvage the campaign as persistent rain in Florida put paid to their hopes. 

Babar Azam set for showdown talks with Pakistan Cricket Board

After yet another disappointing ICC tournament, Babar Azam is set to be under the scanner once again. The 29-year-old was surprisingly asked to lead the T20I side, replacing Shaheen Shah Afridi from his role. The young left-arm pacer was the captain for just one series before he was sacked to raise lots of questions. 

When asked to speak about his captaincy future, Babar Azam said, "When I gave up the captaincy in 2023, I thought that I shouldn't be doing it now, that's why I left it and I announced it myself, then when they gave it back to me, it was the decision of the PCB. When I go back, we will discuss all that has happened here. And if I have to leave the captaincy, I will announce it openly. I will not hide behind anything. Whatever happens will happen in the open. But for now, I have not thought about it. It is eventually PCB's decision”