Pakistan captain Babar Azam gave a motivational speech to his teammates after the Men in Green lost to India by 4 wickets in their Super 12 encounter in Melbourne on Sunday.
“Brothers, it was a good match. We put in the effort, like always. We made some mistakes but from those mistakes, we have to learn. We should not fall. The tournament has just started, we have lots of matches left, remember that,” Babar said in a video released by the Pakistan Cricket Twitter handle.
“We didn’t lose because of one person. We all lost as a team. Nobody should point fingers at one person. This should not happen, not in this team. As a team we lost and we will win as a team. We have to stick together, remember that,” the skipper added.
He also pointed out that there were also positives that they can take away from this match.
“We have had good performances as well, so look at those also. The small mistakes that were made, we need to work on those as a team,” he said.
The captain also told Mohammad Nawaz, who bowled the last over, to not to take the result to heart.
“Don’t worry Nawaz. You are my match winner and I will always believe in you. You will win matches for me. It was a pressure game but you took it very close so very well done,” Babar said to his bowler as the dressing room erupted in applause.
“Whatever it is, leave it here. Going ahead, we will start afresh. As a team, we played very well and we have to continue like this. Wish you all the best,” he concluded.
Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan struggled in the encounter, losing their wickets to World Cup newcomer Arshdeep Singh.
After losing their first two wickets with only 15 runs on the board in the fourth over, Pakistan was well served by Iftikhar Ahmed’s 34-ball 51 and Shan Masood’s unbeaten 52 off 42 balls.
Arshdeep Singh was one of India’s most successful bowlers in the tournament’s most anticipated match, finishing with figures of 3/32 in four overs at the legendary venue.
