People Said We Couldn't Chase 350 - Babar Azam Takes A Dig At Critics

Babar Azam, Pakistan captain, took a dig at critics of the Pakistani team and said that the unit was now playing “positive” and “proactive” cricket and that is why achieving a lot of success in the limited-overs formats.

Pakistan recently defeated Australia in an ODI series at home and now white-washed West Indies as well in the format. Babar, who has been in dream form racking up records for fun in ODI cricket, also praised his bowlers for stepping up whenever the batters fail.

Taking a dig at the critics, Babar said before people used to say that Pakistan can’t pursue targets like 350 in ODIs but they show that they are wrong by pulling off a record chase against Australia not too long ago.

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In March this year, Pakistan chased a target of 349 with six wickets in hand against Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

“We talked about how we needed to play different cricket. And we have played proactive, positive cricket, People said we couldn’t chase 350. We did [against Australia], and our bowling also defended totals.

“Ups and downs are natural. You don’t always get a result even if you give 100%. Sometimes you have to accept that what you do can’t be executed the way you wanted. I can only keep demanding effort from my team. They’re doing that, and so the results are following,” said the current no.1-ranked batter in ODIs.

Babar recently became the first batter to notch 9 consecutive 50-plus scores in ODI cricket.

Babar Azam Praises Bench Strength And Points Out Areas To Improve Themselves

The Pakistani captain also became the first batter in ODI history to twice earn the record of scoring three consecutive centuries in three one-day matches. He is currently in the purple patch which has seen him accumulate runs at will.

Babar also praised Pakistan’s bench strength and added that he is “satisfied” as a captain. And he added some areas where he feels the Men in Green need to improve.

“Bench strength always gives you a lift,” he said. “Knowing you have players on the bench who are ready to use is good to know. We had Iftikhar, Abdullah Shafique and Dahani on the bench. We tried a different bowling combination and they performed very well. It’s very satisfying as a captain to see that.”

“We still need to improve in certain areas. We still lose wickets in clusters in the middle which puts us on the back foot. Here the players need better concentration; it’s an area to work on.

“The fielding has improved, but our body language still deteriorates when a good partnership develops, and it’s another thing we can try and improve,” he signed off.

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