Pak v Eng: Babar Azam defends players' selection after series loss

LONDON: Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has defended the selection of players after the Men in Green displayed a poor show in the final and fourth T20I of the series against England at The Oval.

The hosts defeated Pakistan by seven wickets and won the series 2-0. They chased the 158-run target in 15.3 overs for the loss of seven wickets.

During the post-match press conference, Babar Azam said “We are on the track but unable to click”. Babar admitted that the Pakistan team collapsed in the fourth T20I against England.

He was happy with the way Pakistan batted in the powerplay but their innings faltered in the middle overs.

Defending the selection of the players, Babar said players playing in the team were purely selected on merit.

“England’s bowling is very good, so we had to take our chances. Need to sort out those things for the World Cup. A few injuries but a lot of positives, we played well in patches, but to win you need 100%,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that the four-match T20I series between Pakistan and England was the final opportunity for both sides to gear up for the T20 World Cup 2024 as the previous edition’s finalists will skip the warm-up matches for this year’s mega event.