Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman exchanged views on the triumph against New Zealand in the 35th match of the World Cup in Bengaluru on Saturday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared a video on social media platforms on Saturday in which Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam were involved in an interesting conversation. “When Abdullah Shafique got out, I realised the wicket was good. We would go for a bang from the second or third over”.
Babar Azam said: “There was in my mind that if Fakhar Zaman stays on the wicket, we can chase the mammoth total against New Zealand. Whenever Fakhar Zaman uses to play such enterprising knocks, we win 90 percent of the matches”.
“When I arrived on the wicket to bat, Fakhar told me that the pitch was good for batting. Fakhar said that we will rack up a partnership,’’ Babar Azam added.
The Pakistan skipper stated, ‘’Fakhar and I had made a plan to bat for the first 20 overs’’. Babar made it clear that the team had no idea that the match would be impacted by the rain.
But suddenly, Bengaluru witnessed cloudy weather, and then the team started to play in line with the required situation, Babar added.
Babar Azam said: “Before the DLS method, Fakhar had already started to treat the New Zealand bowlers with utter contempt”.
Fakhar questioned Babar Azam's advice to the 33-year-old batter. “I told Fakhar to wait for the bad deliveries to smack sixes, but not unnecessarily. Fakhar had agreed to me, but he still smashed sixes forcefully (laughs both Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman),” replied Babar Azam.
“But I urged Fakhar to play the way you want to, but please do not lose your wicket,” continued Babar Azam.
Speaking about the pitch behaviour, Fakhar stated, “By the way, the wicket in Bengaluru was too good for batting. I think it has turned out to be the best so far in the World Cup as far as batting is concerned.”
‘’Yeah, we can say that wicket is good for batting. I wanted to extend my innings, rotate more strikes, and allow you [Fakhar] to play aggressively. We wanted to maintain the run-rate by taking advantage of the smaller boundaries. ” Babar Azam stated:
Fakhar Zaman said: ‘’The pitch where bowlers like Tim Southee and Trent Boult were not getting the ball to swing shows that the pitch was good for batting’’.
“Sorry to say that the ball was swinging, but you did not let the ball swing (laughs Babar Azam),” the Pakistan captain replied.
Speaking about Pakistan all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam said: “I believe that two people are too good to read the pitch pretty well. One was Misbahul Haq, and now it is Iftikhar Ahmed".
“The way Iftikhar Ahmed is carrying himself is just exceptional. I am a witness to Iftikhar Ahmed’s hard work and dedication. The way he is putting up his all-out efforts is just brilliant. As both Iftikhar and I do workout at the academy together,” said Fakhar Zaman.
Babar Azam underscored the importance of middle order for boosting the team’s momentum. He said, “Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed had strengthened the team’s middle order.”
The Pakistan captain also praised New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and all-rounder Rachin Ravindra for playing good cricket against the team.
Babar Azam questioned, “Fakhar Bhai, I have seen your many innings, for instance, 200 and 193. Which innings do you rate the most?”
Rating his innings as one of his best so far, Zaman said, “Considering the fact that this was the knock in the World Cup, One has to wait for four years to showcase stellar performances. But for me, the 193-run innings I played at Wanderers against South Africa are clearly the best for me”.
Babar Azam said, “Your entire innings are special. On your day, you pave the way for us to win lopsided contests.”
