"Good performances are those that help the team win" - Babar Azam on Peshawar Zalmi's elimination from PSL 2023

Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam admitted his disappointment after his side failed to progress to the final of the 2023 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The right-handed batter observed that Zalmi produced several notable individual performances but it wasn't enough to carry them all the way.

Zalmi lost to the defending champions Lahore Qalandars by four wickets in the second eliminator held in Lahore on Friday (March 17). The hosts gunned down the total of 172 despite Mohammad Haris' 54-ball 85 to set up the tournament decider with Multan Sultans.

Speaking at a post-match press conference, Babar acknowledged that their performances weren't as desired. The 28-year-old stated:

"It was a good journey, but unfortunately, we couldn't finish. We didn't perform as well as we should have but made a comeback in the second half, and everyone tried to learn and gave their 100 percent.

"I set my goal in this PSL to register top performances but I feel good performances are those that help the team win. As an individual, I enjoyed the tournament, we got different wickets at each venue, and there were many entertaining matches."

While Mohammad Rizwan is likely to overtake Babar's tally of 522 runs in the tournament, the Pakistan captain has been in imperious form. He has struck five fifties and a century In 11 games, striking at 145.40.

"The key is not to lose back-to-back wickets" - Babar Azam

Rashid Khan struck twice in the 12th over. (Credits: Twitter)

While Babar gave credit to the Qalandars for winning the key moments of the game, he felt losing back-to-back wickets and sloppy bowling from Zalmi did not help matters. He added:

"The key is not to lose back-to-back wickets because hitting straightaway for a new batter is difficult. But we should give credit to the Lahore bowlers who bowled according to the field and situation, and they were able to restrict us to 170.

"I think we had enough total on this pitch, and the bowling was fantastic but we couldn't execute our bowling plans the same way we did yesterday and a little bit wayward bowling."

With the four-wicket win, Qalandars have reached the final thrice in the last four years.