T20 World Cup 2022: Babar Azam asked question about IPL in post-match press conference; media manager forced to intervene
Pakistan captain Babar Azam was on the receiving end of an uncomfortable question in the post-match press conference following the culmination of the T20 World Cup 2022. The Men in Green lost to England in the grand fixture at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, November 13.
Babar had to answer several questions ranging from his own poor form, the impact of Shaheen Afridi's injury, and various other aspects.
Amid all the queries, he was presented with a rather confining question pertaining to the Indian Premier League (IPL) by a journalist.
In the #T20WorldCupFinal pre match press conference, Babar Azam was asked about what it’s like to not play the IPL.
He completely ignored the question.
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Enquiring whether the prospect of playing in the cash-rich league would have helped Pakistan's chances of claiming their second T20 World Cup title, the journalist asked:
"Talk about the benefits of playing the IPL, is that something you feel would have helped you and your team and is that something you have any hope for in the future?"
The subject of Pakistani players' participation in the IPL is a sensitive subject with their last appearance coming in the inaugural edition, 14 years ago. Since 2008, no Pakistani player has played in the IPL while India's last tour of Pakistan also came in the same year in the form of the Asia Cup.
Babar remained motionless following the question and chose not to indulge in a reply while sharing a glance with the team's media manager. To make matters more definitive, the personnel chimed in and requested that journalists keep their questions limited to the tournament at hand. The media manager said:
"We are taking questions on the World Cup final at the moment."
The complicated diplomatic ties between the neighboring nations make the prospect of Pakistani players featuring in the IPL a far-fetched idea.
"We felt like home here, got great support at every venue" - Babar Azam
Pakistan and England battled it out in the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 in a bid to claim their second title.
After a pulsating game, it was the Jos Buttler-led side who emerged victorious, quashing the Men in Green's hopes for a repeat of their famous 1992 ODI World Cup triumph at the same venue.
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Following the five-wicket defeat, Babar congratulated England and termed them as the deserved winners of the competition. The skipper said during the post-match presentation ceremony:
"Congratulations to England, they deserve to be champions and fought well. We felt like home here, got great support at every venue. Thanks for your support. Yes, we lost the first two games but how we came in the last four games was incredible. I just told the boys to play our natural game, but we fell 20 runs short and the boys fought well with the ball."
Pakistan will have a while to shake the defeat off as they are set to face England once again. But this time it will be on home soil with the red ball. The three-match Test series is scheduled to begin on December 1.
Will Pakistani players feature in the IPL anytime soon? Let us know what you think.