“Decision Regarding Declaration…”: Shahid Afridi Discusses Babar Azam’s Dangerous Move Against New Zealand

Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, finished the year 2022 as the best run-scorer in all of international cricket. Despite having a lacklustre performance in the Twenty20 World Cup in 2022, the 28-year-old hitter finished the year with a total of 2598 runs scored.

In spite of the fact that everything went well for Babar the batter, the year was not a particularly successful one for him as captain.

Things turned sour for him after Pakistan were swept by England in a three-match Test series that was played at their home stadium. It was a devastating setback for Babar, as a lot of cricket analysts and fans questioned his ability to captain the team when it happened.

Babar’s declaration during Pakistan’s first Test match against New Zealand on Day 5 of the match, which just completed, has further attracted some criticism as the team narrowly avoided losing.

Pakistan declared their innings on Day 5 of the Karachi Test against New Zealand with just approximately 15 overs of play left, giving the tourists a target of 138 runs to chase down.

The Blackcaps came back with the bat and provided a fitting reply to the opposition. However, because of the poor lighting conditions in the eighth over, the play had to be stopped before it was finished.

The decision to declare by Babar at such an important stage of the match was criticised by a number of industry professionals; nevertheless, Shahid Afridi, a former captain of Pakistan and the interim chief selector, defended the batter and promised him of the complete backing of the selection committee.

“We believe that Babar Azam is the most important player on the Pakistani team, and we will support him. His choice about the announcement he made the day before (Friday) was a wise one. As a selection committee, we want to be Babar’s shoulder to cry on when things become rough.

The manner in which he addressed the media and emphasised that the team is just concentrating on the game and is not worried by the things that are going on outside the ground was really impressive to me. This is therefore what we expect from Babar, and the entirety of our committee will be there to support him “Afridi said journalists.

Ish Sodhi came into the match and took six wickets for 86 runs, which put New Zealand in a position where they could win the match in the first two sessions of the fifth and final day, but Pakistan battled on until they declared their second innings at 311 for 8 and won the match.

That left New Zealand with a difficult target of 138 to win in 15 overs, and their chase came to an end with the light beginning to fade on 61 for 1, with Tom Latham and Devon Conway both remaining unbeaten on their respective scores.

Sodhi was the standout performer as he surpassed his previous best of 4 for 60, which he had achieved four years previously against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.

Both Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq contributed to Pakistan’s score, with Babar Azam scoring 161 runs in the first innings and Imam-ul-Haq scoring 96 runs in the second innings. Kane Williamson was the standout performer for New Zealand as he notched up his fifth double century in the Test format.