T20 World Cup 2021: "He is fighting it out and I will keep backing him" - Babar Azam throws weight behind struggling Hasan Ali

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam batted for pacer Hasan Ali despite yet another dismal show by the 27-year-old in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021 against Australia on Thursday.

Ali, who was the weak link in Pakistan’s bowling right through the competition, crumbled under pressure at a crucial juncture in the knockout clash. He conceded 15 runs in his last over, the 18th of the innings, and ended with poor figures of 0 for 44.

In the next over, bowled by Shaheen Afridi, Ali dropped a catch of Matthew Wade at deep midwicket. The Australian batter hit the next three balls for sixes to put his team in the final.

At a post-match conference, Azam disagreed with suggestions that Pakistan paid the price for sticking with Ali despite the pacer’s repeated failures. Azam countered:

“I don’t feel like that. He is our main bowler and has won many matches for Pakistan. Players do drop catches sometimes. He is fighting it out and I will keep backing him. Every player cannot perform in every game. Some individuals who are having a good day try to make the most of it and come up with good performances.”

The Pakistan captain added that critics’ views on Ali will not matter to the team. Azam admitted:

“Yes, he is a bit down. We will keep backing him and giving him confidence. People will say a lot of things, but we are behind him.”

Ali claimed only five wickets in six matches for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021. Apart from being expensive, he was also guilty of bowling a number of no balls.

“Hafeez looked a bit off color” - Babar Azam on veteran cricketer bowling only one over

Pakistan vice-captain and leg-spinner Shadab Khan stood out for the team with figures of 4 for 26. However, Mohammad Hafeez bowled only one over in the innings as Azam backed Ali to do the job.

Asked if Pakistan under-utilized their spinners, Azam explained:

“We had many spin options. There was Shoaib Malik and Hafeez as well so we had four spinners. But we couldn’t utilize them due to the condition and situation of the game. Hafeez bhai looked a bit off color today so I couldn’t get him to bowl more overs. Overall, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have been very good. Shadab Khan also came up with an outstanding performance. We stuck to the bowling combination that we believed in. The result did not go our way today but we will try and learn from it.”

Australia needed 50 off the last four overs to clinch the semi-final against Pakistan but got home with an over to spare as Wade (41* off 17) went berserk.