Defeat against West Indies dented our chances in CWC: Babar

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket team's middle order batsman and the highest scorer of the World Cup, Babar Azam said on Tuesday Pakistan's loss to West Indies was the key factor which deprived the green shirts from reaching the semi finals of the Cup in England.

"We suffered because of this defeat in the opener of the mega Cup, eventually we were unable to remain in contention for the semi's." He told media men at a news conference here at the Gadaffi stadium along with opener Imam ul Haq.

Both were of the view that this loss followed the team till their last group match and it was unfortunate that Pakistan were out of last four on the basis of run rate despite being equal at points table with New Zealand with 11 points.

"We did well in the last four games, making a spirited come back , defeating New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan and Bangladesh prior to our morale boosting win over England, but it was not even enough to take us to the semi finals," they added.

Babar was candid enough to accept that he lost his wicket by playing a bad stroke in the match against Australia "We should not have played in that manner against fancied Australia and our shot selection was not up-to the mark," he added.

Babar dispelled the impression of grouping in the team saying "These are all baseball rumours just to lower the morale of the players and to dent team as a one unit," he said adding "It is very common now that in case of a defeat critics talk about grouping in the team and it started in the world cup after we lost to India."

When asked to analyze his own performance in the world cup, he expressed his delight of being the highest scorer at a world scoring 474 runs with one century and three half centuries breaking the existing record of former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad. “ For me it is a big honour in my so far cricket career to surpass the record of legendary Miandad," he said.

Answering a question he said the Pakistan 15-member squad which participated in the World did not include any "RAILU KATTA" as all the players were selected based on their individual performance and talent .

When his attention was drawn to the news appearing in a section of press of  being handing over the captaincy of the team, he replied in a soft tone “ It is the responsibility and the decision of the Pakistan Cricket Board to appoint a captain ,to whom they consider, my job is to play cricket and be a useful part of the team."

Opener Imam ul Haq defended the presence of Chief selector and his uncle Inzamam ul Haq during the tour of England saying that the presence or absence of the chief selector did not matter or affect team’s performance.

"I think his presence was a positive sign for the team as we was always there to motivate the players ,giving useful tips ,one cannot blame him (chief selector) for team's disorganized performance in the mega event “,he added.

"Being nephew of Inzamam ul Haq, I do not know if it is favourable factor for me as in the field I always try to put up performance to prove my selection of merit," he said.

"In my opinion our performance in the world cup was “ satisfactory “, barring our loss to West Indies “ and as a team we bounced back in last four matches," he added.

Answering a question he said all the teams of the world cup were well prepared and the composition of   most the teams revealed that their opening and specialized position players were playing for quite a long time which was another factor to elevate a particular teams performance.

"Participation in world cup has added to my experience and confidence and I would endeavour to display better cricket in my future assignments to achieve my set goals," Imam said.

"Ups and downs are part of the game, and we should not be feeling disappointed from the result achieved in the world cup, we should try to move forward with a positive frame mind to continue our efforts to lift the overall performance of the team in future," said the opener.