Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 11: Pakistan whose road in the on-going cricket World Cup ended with the match against England at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Saturday, has expressed satisfaction at the treatment the team has received in India during nearly two months stay in the host country which initially it called a “Dushman Mulk,” an enemy country.
As Pakistan failed to achieve the even otherwise impossible target of overcoming England score of 337 runs in just 16 balls, New Zealand was officially declared qualified for semi-final along with India, South Africa and Australia. New Zealand will meet India in the first semi-final in Mumbai on November 15 while South Africa will clash against Australia the next day in Kolkata.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said he was thankful for the love and support shown by the Indian fans during the ongoing Cricket World Cup. Babar landed in India for the first time in September this year, hoping to lead his team to World Cup glory. However, not much has gone their way in the tournament, with Pakistan exiting early from the World Cup without entering the knock-out stage. In the nine league matches, Babar himself has scored just 320 runs with the help of four half-centuries and has not been able to inspire his team as he would’ve loved to.
Babar asserted that the Pakistan team has received a lot of love and support from the Indian fans. “To be honest – first I got a lot of love from India, a lot of support. Not only me, the entire team. Of course, I was not able to get a good finish. My goal was to get a good finish in the batting. I didn’t have a goal to score 50 or 100. The main thing was to make the team win. The performance that helps the team, not my individual performance. I played slow, I played fast, depending on the situation. I play according to the situation and according to what my team need,” Babar said in a press conference.
“We came here for the first time, we didn’t have the awareness of how to take it, but we adapted as soon as possible in practice, that we will have to face it like this. So, we faced this thing, we took it and planned accordingly that how do we bat here. Because as I said, in the middle and end you get runs. In the middle overs when the ball is old you struggle a bit – as a batsman.” he added.
His admission of his team having well-received by the cricket lovers in India evoked some strong comments from the former Indian opening batsman Virendra Sehwag who reminded the Pakistani team that its cricket board chairman had called India “an enemy country” on the team’s arrival to play in the World Cup.
On being strongly criticised for his earlier post “Pakistan Zindabhaag! Have a safe flight back home,” Sehwag justified his post. “In the 21st century there have been 6 ODI world cups. In 6 attempts, only once in 2007 did we not qualify for the semi-finals and have qualified in 5 of the last 6 World cups. On the other hand only once have Pakistan qualified for the semis in 6 attempts in 2011,” Sehwag posted on X.
“And they come up with ridiculous allegations blaming ICC and BCCI of changing balls and pitch. Their Prime Minister mocks us when we lose to another team despite having beaten them. Upon reaching here, their player posts pictures of enjoying tea in Hyderabad with sarcasm to mock our soldier.
“The PCB chief on camera refers to our country as Dushman Mulk. And they expect love for their hate. And those preaching class, that is a two way street. Jo Achha vyavhar kare uske saath hum bahut hi achhe, aur jo aisa vyavhar kare toh sahi mauke par soot samet lautana is my way. On field bhi, off-field bhi.”
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Amidst speculations about Babar Azam’s future in Pakistan cricket following his team’s poor show in the World Cup, he had told the media before the match against England that a decision would be taken after the team’s return home.
Some of his close aides are believed to have advised him to step down from captaincy in all the three formats, but Babar said, “About the captaincy–as I said, once we go back to Pakistan or after this match, we will see what happens. But right now, I am not focusing on this; my focus is on the next match.”