All-rounder Imad Wasim will miss Pakistan’s T20 World Cup opener against USA on Thursday due to persistent tension in the side, captain Babar Azam said. Babar said Wasim is yet to fully recover from the side strain and the left-arm spinner is under observation. “Medics are monitoring him and he will be fit for the remaining matches of the World Cup,” Babar told media here.
Wasim, a seasoned T20 specialist, retired ahead of the World Cup two months ago. The selectors felt his bowling style suited the slow pitching nature of the Americas.
Along with Wasim, left-arm spinner Mohammed Amir was also selected in the ICC squad but was used sparingly in the series against New Zealand, Ireland and England in the build-up to the tournament.
“I think the pitches are good for us because they (the pitches) look good for pace bowlers and we have a very good pace attack,” Babar said.
Babar emphasized that there were no issues with the facilities provided to the team at American stadiums.
“It’s okay. We have no complaints and we’ve seen this all happen before. Not having a warm-up game before the first match could have been a problem, but we played one cricket and got here. It’s not a problem for us,” he said. said.
Babar recently became the second batsman after Virat Kohli to cross 4000 runs in T20Is. The star Indian batsman topped the charts with 4037 runs, while Babar came a close second with 4023 runs.
However, the 29-year-old Lahore man said his focus was not on individual records but that he wanted to play according to team requirements and match situations.
“We are here to win the World Cup. We are not thinking about personal records. What matters is that the team performs well and succeeds in winning the World Cup. We have learned from our past mistakes,” he added.
In a lighter vein, Babar said the pressure of getting a ticket to play against India was greater than the match itself.
He laughed, “There are so many people looking for tickets, so it’s a lot of pressure.”
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