Last Update on: November 10th, 2023 at 04:34 pm
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has kept his hopes alive as he believes that Pakistan can still qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Earlier, Mohammad Amir also made a statement, saying that Pakistan could make 450 runs against England and then restrict them to under 100 runs to qualify for the semi-finals.
Babar Azam said that the defeat against Afghanistan and South Africa cost Pakistan the semi-final position. Pakistan lost to South Africa by 1 wicket and Afghanistan chased down the target of 283 set by Pakistan with a whole over to spare. These two losses proved to be the main cause of Pakistan’s current situation in the World Cup.
Pakistan needs to beat England by an unimaginably high margin in order to qualify for the semi-finals and Babar Azam believes that Pakistan can pull it off. A win by a margin of 287 runs or a target chased in 2.4 overs is something really far-fetched given Pakistan’s current form and the opponent is the defending champions England.
Babar Azam said at a press conference, “Pakistan has one remaining match to play. You never know what happens next. Pakistan should have won matches against Afghanistan and South Africa which actually cost our position in WorldCup.”
“We have planned regarding net-run rate against England. However we cannot start blind slogging from ball one. We do want hitting but we have a plan to play powerplay and building partnerships. Fakhar Zaman making a stay at the crease can achieve us our target” #CWC23
Babar Azam Is Not Having An Auspicious World Cup
A defeat against Afghanistan for the first time in the World Cup, losing four consecutive matches, and losing against arch-rivals India, all of these incidents make this a forgettable World Cup for Babar Azam and co. Apart from this Babar is also not having an auspicious tournament with the bat. Babar Azam has scored 282 runs in eight innings with an average of 40.29
The Pakistan skipper has scored four half-centuries in this tournament out of which three ended up in a losing cause. Babar Azam’s strike rate of just 82.7 in the World Cup is a big concern given the batting-friendly tracks here in India. However, Pakistan has somehow managed to win four matches in this World Cup without their top player being in form shows that the team is not entirely dependent on Babar Azam.
Pakistan will face England on Saturday and every one of the eleven members will have to give every ounce of blood and sweat in order to stretch that small ray of hope into something big. The chances of Pakistan qualifying for the semis are less than 1% but it is not entirely a zero and that is something worth fighting for.
