Pakistan All-Rounder Imad Wasim Breaks Silence On His Relation With Babar Azam Ahead Of T20 World Cup
pakistan all-rounder imad wasim breaks silence on his relation with babar azam ahead of t20 world cup
Imad Wasim was one of the two players who came out of retirement ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup and he is now set to represent the Men in Green in the ICC event. Mohammad Amir was the second player who came out of retirement. Imad has criticised Babar in past and had also wanted him to step down as the captain following Pakistan’s below-par run in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Imad made his return for the home series against New Zealand and is now gearing up for the T20 WC. For the first time since his return, Imad has broken his silence and opened up about his relation with Babar. Speaking to media, Imad quashed the rumours of having a rift with Babar and said that they have a good friendship.
“I want to clear something. There was one thing going around in the media…we (Imad on Babar) have a good friendship. We are eating and sitting together. There is nothing like that (Imad on rift). You can see it on the field and off it because there should be nothing like that in your heart when you have to play for Pakistan. We have moved on from it long back. It’s not even one per cent (any rift). You can ask Babar, Amir and myself. We three will get clicked together one day,” Imad said.
Imad sat on the bench in the first three matches against New Zealand. He made his return for the last two T20Is. The five-match series between the two teams ended in a 2-2 tie. The series opener was washed out after just two balls due to rain.
Imad is part of the squad for the upcoming series against Ireland and England and is confirmed to retain his spot for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He wasn’t part of the 2022 T20 World Cup squad.
Imad played all six matches in the 2021 T20 World Cup under Babar’s leadership. The all-rounder scalped 4 wickets in six matches. Pakistan lost to eventual winners, Australia in the second semi-final.
Talking of Amir, he retired from Pakistan cricket in 2020 citing mental torture. The left-arm pacer had quit Test cricket in July 2019. He moved to England following his retirement and would have been eligible to play for them soon. But Amir had decided not to represent England. He came back to Pakistan and is now set to spearhead their pace attack in the 2024 T20 WC.