(All times listed in Bangladesh Standard Time)

Umar Gul, who recently took on the role of Pakistan’s interim bowling coach for the Afghanistan and New Zealand series, praised the commanding leadership of captain Babar Azam and highlighted his relentless pursuit of success for the national team.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Gul shared his observations and commended Babar’s dominant presence, particularly evident during the recently concluded New Zealand series.

Gul emphasized the importance of a dominant captain who leads with authority, and he pointed out that Babar’s exceptional performance as skipper solidifies his position. According to Gul, Babar should maintain this dominance as it holds him accountable for the team’s success.

“Having closely observed Babar Azam during the New Zealand series, it is clear that he is a dominant force, relentlessly striving for his team’s success. His authority as a leader is evident through his performances against the Blackcaps,” Gul said.

“As a captain, when you are dominant and your team performs exceptionally well, there is no doubt that you can be considered a dominant captain. If Babar continues to lead the team, he should maintain that dominance. Entrusting him with the responsibility of the fifteen-member squad or the playing XI makes him accountable. He should indeed be dominant because a leader’s duty is to lead from the front, perform for the team, extract the required performances from the players, and take care of them both on and off the field,” he added.

While Gul acknowledged Babar’s current dominance, he also highlighted that there is always room for improvement. He recognized that becoming a good captain is a learning process that every player has to go through.

“It’s a positive sign that Babar should be dominant, but there are still areas where he can improve. No player joins the team and immediately becomes a good captain. It’s always a learning process, and every player must go through it. At present, I believe Babar Azam has total control over the team,” he concluded.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the squad for the Bangladesh tour. Pakistan U-19 team is coming to visit Bangladesh next April-May. It is known that the Pakistan U-19 team will play five one-day matches and one T20 match along with four-day matches during the tour of Bangladesh. According to the schedule, the four-day match between the two teams will begin on April 30 and will be held at Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Two one-day matches will be held on May 6 and 8 at the same ground. After this, the duo will go to Rajshahi. There will be three ODIs and only one T20 match.

Pakistan U-19 Squad: Saad Bagh (captain), Ali Asfand (vice-captain), Ahmed Hussain, Arafat Minhas, Azaan Awaiz, Aimal Khan, Amir Hussain, Hamza Nawaz, Mohammad Ismail, Mohammad Tahir, Mohammad Ibtisam, Sajjad Ali, Shahzaib Khan, Mohammad Tayyeb Arif, Obaid Shahid, Shyamal Hossain, and Wahaj Riaz.

Reserves: Muhammad Zulkifal, Abdullah, and Ikramul Tareen.

India won the toss and invited the arch-rivals to bat on Sunday. Arshdeep Singh hit the first ball of the second over. Pakistan captain Babar Azam returned to the trap of leg before by hitting the ‘Golden Duck’. In the return over, the young pacer picked up another opener Mohammad Rizwan (4). Shan Masood and Iftekhar took charge of Pakistan in danger. For the third wicket, these two added 76 runs in 50 balls. Iftekhar completed the fifty off 32 balls and Shan Masud completed the fifty off 40 balls.

Mohammed Shami broke the partnership by trapping Iftekhar’s leg before for 51 runs. Hardik Pandya then picked up Shadab Khan (5), Haider Ali (2), and Mohammad Nawaz (9) in two consecutive overs and put Pakistan in danger again. Asif Ali became Arshdeep’s third victim with 2 runs off 3 balls. In the end, Shaheen Afridi played a cameo of 16 runs in 8 balls. In this, Pakistan’s score exceeded 150. In 20 overs, their score stood at 159 runs for 8 wickets. Arshdeep Singh took 3 wickets for 32 runs. Hardik Pandya took 3 wickets for 30 runs. Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took one wicket each.

The accident happened during practice at the nets in Melbourne on Friday. Coach Mohammad Yusuf was standing on one side of the net and talking to the students. The rest were sporadically busy practicing. At this time, a strong shot by teammate Mohammad Nawaz hit Shan Masood on the head. He lay down on the field with his hands on his head.

Mohammad Yusuf, Babar Azam, and Afridi came running after seeing this scene. Physios came running and observed his injury. After that Masood was sent to the hospital in a hurry to avoid any risk. A scan was performed at the site of the injury. Doctors will inform about Masood’s injury after receiving the report.

For now, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not officially announced anything about Shan Masood’s injury. No update has been given by ICC in this regard. Masood has played 12 international T20 matches for Pakistan so far. He has collected 220 runs for the country in the short format including two fifties.

He played a confident inning of 39 runs in the T20 World Cup warm-up match against England. Before that, Masood played an impeccable inning of 56 runs in the last T20 match of the series against England in Lahore. Masood’s injury can undoubtedly be considered a big shock in the Pakistan camp before the match against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next Sunday.

But if an accident happens, goodbye, Pakistan stands in such a situation in the Asia Cup. Pakistan has no choice but to win against Hong Kong to join India in the Super Four and the same equation for Hong Kong. That is, the match is a fight for survival for both teams.
Besides, taking newcomer Hong Kong for granted is nothing but foolhardy. Nizakat Khan’s team lost a great fight against India, the number one team in the T20 ranking.

The team, which had a mix of players of Pakistani and Indian origin, scored 152 for 5 against India’s excellent bowling. So Inzamam-ul-Haq warned his successors ahead of the last match of the group stage against Hong Kong. The former Pakistan captain advised not to take any team lightly.

According to Inzamam, Pakistan is playing against the Hong Kong team for the first time. And the possibility of being caught by an unknown opponent is strong. Reminiscing that, the former Pakistani star known as Sultan of Multan told Babar, ‘No team should be taken lightly. We can’t even imagine how much pressure the team is under in such a match. Hopefully, everyone in the team is trying to give their best and will continue to try.’

Inzamam is keen to see several changes in the team after the loss against India. Inzamam said, “I think there will be some changes in the team. Haider Ali should get a chance in the match against Hong Kong and Pakistan should take risks with Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali.”