T20 World Cup 2024: As a team we were not able to click – Babar Azam on Pakistan’s disappointing run

Pakistan captain Babar Azam feels the lack of collective effort led to his team’s downfall in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. The Men in Green failed to qualify for the Super 8 stage after suffering losses against the USA and arch-rivals India.

The Babar Azam-led team was stunned by the USA in a Super Over contest whereas they suffered a six-run loss against India as they failed to chase down 120 at New York despite being 57-1 after 10 overs.

Pakistan came up with a decent bowling performance but their batters could not stand tall in challenging conditions and failed to deliver at the crucial stages.

“We did not play well as a team,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said in his last press conference at the tournament on June 16. “It’s not that we lost because of one person. As a team, we lost. As a team we were not able to click. Sometimes we did well with our bowling but we did not do well in batting. The pitches here – you saw that they helped the fast bowlers a little. But I think our batting did not click.”

Azam rued that their batters failed to clinch the crucial moments and they put themselves under the cosh by losing wickets at regular intervals.

“When the games were in our hands – we lost wickets because of which we lost two crucial matches. We were going ahead and the pressure was on the other team. But when you lose back-to-back wickets, you know the pressure builds. There are some dot balls, where you have to build partnerships. When the pressure builds, you take chances. Today, you saw that we were going easily, but then the back-to-back wickets fell. There was a little pressure and we took the game deep,” Azam said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan was able to reach the semifinal of the 2021 T20 World Cup and also reached the final of the 2022 Asia Cup and T20 World Cup but Azam admitted they could not replicate the same show in the USA.

“We have played the Asia Cup final, the World Cup final, and the semi-final as well. But we were not able to finish. But we should also see that we have achieved those things. Unfortunately, we didn’t achieve it this time. We didn’t qualify. We accept it as a team.

“I as a captain and as a team accept that we didn’t play the same cricket. We couldn’t perform the same way. The expectations that we had made of the team, the way our senior players were, we didn’t execute. We couldn’t deliver at different times. So, we accept that as a player and as a captain, I don’t want to blame anyone. I don’t want to point out that it’s their fault. It’s the fault of all the 15 players.

“As a team, we did not play. We are losing as a team. I am not saying this because of one person. You are pointing out that because of the captain… I cannot play in every player’s place. There are 11 players and each of them has a role. That’s why they came here to play the World Cup. I think we as a team have not been able to apply, follow and finish things. We have to settle down and accept that we didn’t play well as a team,” Azam said.