VIDEO: Babar Azam spoke ‘very emotionally’ after Afghanistan drubbing, says journalist

After being humbled by Afghanistan and having their World Cup campaign in shambles, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, during his post-match press conference spoke "very emotionally" and shared some unknown facts, senior journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti revealed Tuesday.

Bhatti, who is currently in India to cover the mega event, spoke about the fitness issues highlighted by the skipper during a talk on Geo Pakistan.

On Monday, Afghanistan sailed through Pakistan's 283-run target courtesy of impressive innings from Ibrahim Zadran (87), Rahmat Shah (77 not out), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65), and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (48 not out) to secure their second win in the ongoing tournament.

“In my opinion, Babar Azam’s press conference after the defeat against Afghanistan was a very emotional scene that I witnessed with my eyes which you may have not seen from here (in Pakistan). He was about to cry and in emotions, he spoke a lot of things that normally cricketers do not share,” said Bhatti.

The journalist held Babar Azam responsible for the current mess that the Pakistan team had ended up in. 

He added that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had stopped implementing a fitness regimen following Misbah-ul-Haq's departure from the team management two years ago.

He also lamented the importance being given to Biryani, chops and karahi, ever since the team landed in India, and a lack of focus on players' diet.

He highlighted that the cricketers are professionals themselves and should focus on it rather than prioritising other issues.

“Before the World Cup, you (Babar Azam) were arguing with PCB for the last three months to increase salary under the central contract. Close to Rs5.7-5.8 million is being drawn by three players — Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Sha Afridi. It's okay money is coming in cricket and you must get paid. But when you under-perform and complain about fitness after being captain for 3.5 years, then I think Babar Azam himself is responsible for this,” said Bhatti.

Meanwhile, journalist Sohail Imran dismissed reports regarding duel within the squad. However, he was astonished that the PCB issued a press release on the matter.

“When the players and PCB will come out of social media pressure then there will be a vast difference in the team’s performance,” said Imran.

'Don't know what players are thinking'

In his post-match conference, Babar reprimanded the team's poor fielding performance leading to a humiliating World Cup 2023 loss against Afghanistan at Chennai's M Chidambaram Stadium.

Babar blamed below-par performances in bowling and fielding departments for their consecutive third loss in the ongoing mega event.

"Players are absent-minded during fielding [...] don't know what they are thinking," the skipper said while admitting that the team is "saddened" after the loss.

"We didn't perform well in bowling and fielding [departments]", he said and also acknowledged that the "spinners didn't bowl well in the middle overs and didn't put [enough] pressure [on Afghan batters]."

The 29-year-old also turned down any "added captaincy pressure" and said that he keeps both aspects of his responsibilities separate from each other.

"There is no truth in [team] being under pressure after the India loss."

"Our [game] plans are not seeing success [...] Whatever we plan, is not being implemented to the fullest," the skipper added.