T20 World Cup 2021: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam sends a message to the fans
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam thanked fans and well-wishers from his country following his side's thumping victory over India on Sunday. The 27-year-old mentioned that the backing from fans gave his side a lot of confidence heading into the match.
Babar and Co. managed the unthinkable feat of beating India and ending Pakistan's 12-match losing streak in the ICC World Cup against the Men in Blue.
Shaheen Shah Afridi set the tone for his side when he got rid of India's top-three batters in the first innings. While chasing a total of 152 runs in the second innings, Pakistani openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam did not put a foot wrong and saw their side over the finish line with 13 balls remaining.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a video on its official Twitter account where the Pakistani skipper was seen thanking Pakistani fans and supporters. You can watch the video below:
#Pakistan skipper @babarazam258's message for the fans 🇵🇰
#INDvPAK #T20WorldCup https://t.co/647yWq3Ic2
Azam sent a thankful and heartwarming message to his fans and said:
"First of all, I want to thank everyone who prayed for us, supported us, and to everyone who waited eagerly for this game and appreciated us."
The right-hander also mentioned that the backing from the fans instilled confidence in the side, which eventually proved successful for them. He added:
"I want to thank everyone who backed us on social media and in the stadium, and obviously in Pakistan, that gave us a lot of confidence and helped us to know that you guys were always there for our backing."
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan played magnificent knocks of 68* and 79* runs respectively, with 12 boundaries and five sixes among them.
"We kept history out of our mind” – Babar Azam
The Men in Green leader stated that his troops kept the history of the India-Pakistan World Cup rivalry out of their minds while preparing for the 2021 T20 World Cup. In the post-match presentation, Azam said:
"We kept the history [India’s 12-0 dominance] out of our minds. I focused on giving our players confidence, which is what they need in the hours before a big tournament. We focused on quality practice, warm-up matches and even our domestic tournament before that where we gave our 100%.”
Pakistan will look to build on their impressive performance when they face New Zealand on Tuesday in their second game of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Sharjah.