Babar, in a press conference here ahead of Pakistan’s four-match T20I series against England, responded to a question regarding his reinstatement as Pakistan captain, just months after he stepped down from the role.
“To be honest, [I returned as the captain] because of the World Cup. In the past, we have played semi-final and final but this time I have the opportunity to win the World Cup,” Babar said.
“The second thing is that we have a good bunch of players. We have a good batting lineup and especially our bowling is good because Amir is back. [We have] Shaheen, Haris, and Naseem, they are good fast bowlers so yeah, we have a golden opportunity to win the World Cup,” he added.
Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan will continue to open the innings
Babar further shared that Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan will continue to open the innings for Pakistan while the skipper will bat one down.
“Look, as you might have noticed we did not make many experiments in the Ireland series. We fielded the same lineup we foresee [to utilize] in the World Cup.
“We are planning to go with which combination and we have almost decided what should be our batting and bowling lineup.
“You’ll see our planning in this series but yes, we can make one or so changes according to the conditions or what is required. But, mostly I’ll be batting at one down.
The Pakistan skipper also provided an update regarding Haris Rauf’s fitness and revealed that the right-arm speedster is completely fit.
“We’ve received clearance for Haris Rauf. He’s available for this series. So, by the will of Almighty Allah, he will surely be seen in action in the series.”
For the unversed, the four-match T20I series between Pakistan and England, scheduled to run from May 22 to 30, will serve as a warm-up for both teams heading into the T20 World Cup 2024 as the previous edition’s finalists will skip the warm-up matches for this year’s mega event.
Pakistan squad:
Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Khan.
England squad:
Jos Buttler (c), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tom Hartley, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Reece Topley.
Pak vs Eng T20I series schedule:
1st T20I: Wed, May 22nd
2nd T20I: Sat, May 25th
3rd T20I: Tue, May 28th
4th T20I: Thu, May 30th