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Babar Azam, the captain of the Pakistan cricket team, opened up about the alleged spat with Shaheen Afridi on September 26, Tuesday, before the Men in Green departed for India to play the ODI World Cup 2023. Pakistan are set to arrive in Hyderabad via Dubai on Wednesday, after the visas for the entire team were cleared on September 25, Monday.
Notably, the delay in getting visas for travelling to India had forced the Pakistan management to cancel their preparatory camp in Dubai for the ODI World Cup 2023. It was revealed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had written to the International Cricket Council about the delay, which led to the Indian High Commission granting them the visas around 8 PM IST.
In the press conference before departing to India to play the ODI World Cup 2023, Babar Azam was quoted as saying about his alleged spat with Shaheen Afridi, as per Indian Express, “ Resp ect is given to everyone. You see, whenever the match is close and we lose, it’s just a regular meeting, but sometimes it’s portrayed as if we had a fight. It shouldn’t be like that. Respect should remain constant for everyone. We love each other as much as we do our family.”
The Pakistani captain spoke about the lack of experience of his team in regards to playing in Indian conditions, he said, as per Times of India, “Although we have not played in India before, we are not taking too much pressure. We have done our research and we have heard the conditions are similar to how they play out in other Asian countries.”
“It is quite an honour for me to travel as the captain this time around, I hope we come back with a trophy this time,” the 28-year-old added.
Babar Azam also looked forward to competing against India on October 14 in the ODI World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He remarked, “I am excited to play in Ahmedabad as it will be jam-packed. I will try my best to perform up to my potential. I am not worried about my individual accolades, I want to make sure whatever I do helps the result for the team”.
