Pakistan captain Babar Azam will be facing the New Zealand side in the first of the two Tests from December 26 onwards with both matches to be played in Karachi. The two teams will then meet in three ODIs as well, also to be played in Karachi.
Ahead of the Test series against New Zealand, who is visiting Pakistan for the second time in two years, though they had returned the last time without playing a single match due to security issues, the Pakistan cricket scene saw some big changes happen.
Ramiz Raja was removed as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief with Najam Sethi replacing him. Sethi was named the head of the 14-member interim committee which will oversee the workings of PCB for the time being until the 2019 constitution of the board is replaced with 2014 one.
Sethi in one of the biggest decisions made thus far in his fourth term as PCB chief removed the Mohammad Wasim-led selection panel and installed a new interim selection committee headed by former captain Shahid Afridi and including former Pakistan cricketers Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar Anjum.
This new selection panel made the decision to add three more players to the Pakistan Test squad for the New Zealand series which was announced by Mohammad Wasim and signed by Ramiz Raja. They added pacers Mir Hamza and Shahnawaz Dahani and off-spinner Sajid Khan to the squad.
The new selectors will also help captain Babar Azam in finalizing the playing XI for the first Test as well.
There have been rumors that Sethi isn’t a fan of Babar Azam continuing as the Test captain following a spate of defeats in home series, the latest being a historic clean sweep at the hands of England.
Talking about these updates, Babar told reporters ahead of the first Test that he isn’t worried about them and instead has his eyes trained on doing well in the New Zealand series.
“In the past 3-4 days, a lot of things have changed," Babar told reporters on Sunday. “As a professional, you have to face such situations but our job is to perform on the ground and give our best. These are off-field issues and our focus is on the ground - how to win, how to start the series well, and perform well across departments.
In our last series, we weren’t able to perform well, little mistakes kept us behind. We will try to rectify them and play good cricket. Definitely, there was a discussion with me. And we debated how to move forward. They have their own mindset and we held discussions around that. I gave my opinion and we took the best possible call," he said.
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He said that he believes in himself, his teammates, and God and is not pressurized by things happening off the field.
“To be honest, these things don’t put me under pressure. God has brought me this far and will continue guiding me forward. I have belief in myself, and my teammates. I accept we haven’t played good cricket but putting yourself under pressure will negatively impact the game. I have full confidence, we will come back," Babar said.
He also addressed the criticism of his defensive approach against England.
“Every day I have to clarify this. I try to take the best possible decision as per the situation and execute my plans. Fielding is set as per the bowlers. Depends on the opposition as well. Cannot respond by attacking cricket when the other team is doing something different. People then will ask why wasn’t I defensive? From the outside it may seem different. From inside it’s not the same," he said.
(News18 inputs)
