Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said that leading the team has not taken a toll on him and has not affected his batting in any way either. Pakistan are on the verge of elimination after New Zealand sealed their place in the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup by beating Sri Lanka on Thursday as well. And, Pakistan now have to beat England in their final league-stage by a massive margin and defy the odds to set up a historic semi-final clash against India as well.

Amid pressure on his captaincy role, Babar said during the pre-match press conference: “I have been captaining my team for the last three years and I have never felt this way. It’s just because I have not performed the way I should have in the World Cup, that’s why people are saying that I am under pressure. I am under no pressure. I have been doing this for the last 2.5 or 3 years. I was the one who was performing and I was the one who was the captain. I was applying the same thing.”

“It depends how you take such thing. Everyone has their own point of view, their own way of thinking. Everyone is saying something different. He should be like this, or like that. If someone has to give me advice, everyone has my number. It is easy to give advice on TV. If you want to give me some advice, you can message me,” he further added.

However, the final league-stage game at Eden Gardens is very important from England’s perspective as well. They could seal their presence in the 2025 Champions Trophy with a win. However, that won’t make up for their poor World Cup campaign as defending champions as well. However, Pakistan will have to defeat England by a margin of 287 runs to qualify for the semi-finals as well.

Babar Azam concluded: “Anything can happen in cricket. We will try to finish the tournament on a high note. If Fakhar Zaman plays for 20-30 overs, we can achieve what’s required. The role of Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan will also be important during the match.”