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Babar Azam drops indirect hint regarding Pakistan's participation at World Cup in India amid controversy
The megaevent is still months away but it has already been rocked by a major controversy with BCCI and PCB finding themselves in an ugly situation.
As Pakistan are engaged with the Pakistan Super League (PSL), their skipper Babar Azam, who is leading Peshawar Zalmi in the tournament, dropped an indirect hint regarding the country's participation at the ICC World Cup 2023, which is scheduled to be played in India in October-November this year. The megaevent is still months away but it has already been rocked by a major controversy with BCCI and PCB finding themselves in an ugly situation.
The two boards are in a conflict, which started after BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced last year that Team India won't be traveling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023, a stance that didn't go well with PCB and their former cricketers, with some even urging the board to boycott the World Cup entirely.
However, in a latest interaction with Geo News, Pakistan captain Babar said the unit is focused on doing well at the showpiece event, also sharing his personal ambitions for the tournament.
“We are focused on the World Cup in India and will try to put up a good show during the tournament,” said Azam.
“I will try to score runs alongside Mohammad Rizwan since we have a good combination at the top. But having said that it is not possible to score in every innings which is why it is important not to depend on only two players in the team.
“However, we also have other players in the team who are eager to play a match-winning role for the team on the field,” he added.
The cricketing ties between India and Pakistan took a strong blow since the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. India last visited Pakistan in 2008 for the 50-overs Asia Cup, where they lost the finals against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, only one bilateral series has been played between the two sides. Pakistan had toured to India back in 2012-13 for a white-ball series. The two sides have only met at multi-nation ICC events with Pakistan last visiting India during the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Coming back to current form, Babar is currently the ranked one batter in the 50-over format and will hope to make a statement by leading Pakistan to their second World Cup glory that too on Indian soil. Pakistan had last won the ODI World Cup under the leadership of legendary all-rounder Imran Khan back in 1992. A semifinal finish back at the 2011 World Cup, which was hosted in India, being their best at the tournament since.
The team, however, have added two major ICC trophies under their name. Pakistan won the 2009 T20 World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2017, where they defeated India in the finals.
