Babar Azam’s hilarious response on whether seniors should quit 1 format - “Aapko kya lagta hai, hum budhe ho gaye hain?”

Pakistan captain Babar Azam came up with a hilarious retort to a query on whether the team’s star players should quit one format to manage their workload better. He asserted that they are not “old” yet and are fit enough to play all versions of the game.

Workload management has been a massive debate in international cricket over the last few months. England all-rounder Ben Stokes recently announced his retirement from ODIs to focus on the other two formats. Also, on Wednesday (August 10), New Zealand Cricket (NZC) confirmed that Trent Boult had been released from his central contract.

During a press conference ahead of Pakistan’s departure for the Netherlands tour, Babar was asked whether seniors like himself, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan would consider quitting one format of the game.

The Pakistan skipper replied:

“It (workload management) all depends on your fitness. We (me, Rizwan, Shaheen) haven’t thought about playing only two formats instead of three. Aapko kya lagta hai, hum budhe ho gaye hain? Fitness mein lagta hai? (Do you think we have become old? Are we not fit enough?).

Babar added:

“If there is excess load, then we have to improve our fitness accordingly. The boys are strong and are working on it. Things are being looked after.”

Pakistan will play three ODIs in the Netherlands from August 16 to 21. All three matches will be played in Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam.

“All 11 players in a Pakistan team are trump cards for me” - Babar Azam

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Pakistan have been heavily dependent on Babar, Rizwan and Afridi to deliver the goods in recent years. However, the skipper asserted that, according to him, all 11 players who play for Pakistan are trump cards.

Answering a query about the team’s key players, he responded:

“All 11 players in a Pakistan team are trump cards for me. I believe in everyone. It’s not like I believe only in myself and that I am the only one who can win the game for the team.

"I trust everyone can do the same. There are other players like Imam (Imam Ul Haq), Fakhar (Zaman), Rizwan. Khushdil Shah has improved his batting a lot. Everyone is the best, according to me.”

Following the series in the Netherlands, Pakistan will feature in the Asia Cup in the UAE. They will begin their campaign by taking on India in Dubai on August 28.