Babar praying pandemic won't scupper T20 World Cup
World number 1 Twenty20 batsman Babar Azam said Monday he was praying the coronavirus pandemic wouldn't normally scupper his first T20 World Cup as Pakistan skipper.
Australia are because of host the seventh Twenty20 World Cup in October and November but organisers face challenges of providing appropriate bio-security and quarantine measures for 15 international teams.
Lingering travel restrictions could also hit the function, where forty-five matches are scheduled to be played in seven cities.
"It'll be my first World Cup as skipper so I am praying for this and keeping fingers crossed," Azam said in a virtual press conference.
The International Cricket Council will discuss the function at its board meeting in Dubai next week.
Azam said he'd not mind if cricket was played in closed stadiums, without fans.
"It will be tough to play without fans because they cheer along and back you up, but who knows much better than Pakistan how to play without crowds," said Azam.
Pakistan were forced to play before sparse or no crowds in the UAE, their neutral ground, in the aftermath of this year's 2009 terrorist attack against a visiting Sri Lanka team in Lahore.
International cricket returned slowly but surely to Pakistan from 2015 but it was only this past year that the side were able to stage a Test in the home after a gap of ten years.
The one-day international captain also vowed to improve Pakistan's rankings.
"We are actually fourth in Twenty20, sixth in ODIs and seventh in Tests which is not acceptable and I want to see improvements for the reason that," Azam said.
Pakistan topped the Twenty20 rankings from January 2018 to until last week.
Pakistan T20 captain Babar Azam said he was keeping his 'fingers crossed' that this year's Twenty20 World Cup would just do it in Australia
