Pakistan’s reinstated captain Babar Azam has finally addressed the elephant in the room and opened up about the latest captaincy controversy as he was reappointed as captain, replacing Shaheen Shah Afridi. During Afridi’s first captaincy, his team lost 4-1 away to New Zealand, raising questions about his leadership. Amid the uproar surrounding the leadership, media reports suggested that Shaheen was unhappy with the way he was suddenly relieved of captaincy. Shaheen’s cryptic social media statements added fuel to the reports.

Despite everything that has happened in recent weeks, Pakistan white-ball captain Azam said he and Afridi still maintain a good bond. Despite the turmoil surrounding the captaincy change, the relationship between Pakistan’s two most famous cricketers appears to be staying together for the time being.

Addressing a press conference ahead of the first T20I against New Zealand, Babar reiterated that all players will support each other in any situation.

“I want to clarify that Shaheen [Afridi] My fate is not recent, it goes back a long time. We support each other in every situation. Our goal is to put Pakistan first and how to get Pakistan’s name noticed. We don’t think about individual glory and thankfully those elements are not present in my team,” Babar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

He did hint that Pakistan will experiment in these five games with an eye on the T20 World Cup and focus all their training on that.

“Our lineup is flexible. We are working hard to give opportunities to our young players and bench strength. You will see different combinations in this series and check what works for us. You will see in the bowling and the game That bit of batting, and in every position, we’ll have a clearer picture when we go into the Ireland and England series,” he said.

Azam said the club has a good balance between youth and experience and he is happy to see new faces in the squad.

“I feel very happy when I see a new player selected into the Pakistan cricket team based on his domestic performance. So all the youngsters who come, we try to keep them in our wings. Because in international matches, Whenever you come in and you need a little support, it helps to have a senior player who can give you a little support and we always support them,” the Pakistan captain said.

The five-match series will kick off on April 18 in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan team lineup:Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim , Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irrfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Syed Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen A Fridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan and Zaman Khan.

Team New Zealand:Michael Bracewell (c), Tom Brundle, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister, Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Will O’Rourke, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Soddy and Zach Fox.

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