Pakistan cricketer Babar Azam fell silent in response to a reporter's question about the poor state of Pakistan cricket. Pakistan recently toured New Zealand and suffered a 4-1 defeat in the T20I series and a 3-0 loss in the ODIs.

"No doubt, the morale of the entire country is down at the moment, but where are we lacking? Is it the mindset or lack of intent, as whenever a team scores over 200, we panic and fail to chase the target. Babar, can you please answer?" the reporter asked at the press conference on the eve of the PSL 2025 matches.

As Babar failed to answer the question, he asked Pakistan's white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan to respond instead. Rizwan too went silent. Pacer Shaheen Afridi came to the rescue of the duo by responding to the journalist.

"It is our team, it is Pakistan's team. See, you are talking about chasing 200. Honestly, it is not just about the batters, it is also the bowlers' responsibility not to concede 200 runs. If you see, the pitches are good for batting. Even if we conceded 200 or more, we should do our best to chase it down. Similarly, it's our job to defend such totals as well. We are a team. We are a family. If the performances have not been good of late, it's our job to get Pakistan cricket back to the top," Shaheen explained.

Pakistan cricket has been under the scanner since they were eliminated in the group stage of the ICC Championships after losses to New Zealand and India at home, much to the disappointment of the fans.

After the setback at home, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) built separate teams for the T20 World Cup 2026 and the ODI World Cup 2027.

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