‘You can never write off Pakistan’: Azhar Mahmood issues warning to other teams ahead of T20 World Cup

Azhar Mahmood believes other teams should not write off Pakistan ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will kickoff in June in West Indies and USA. At present, a lot of changes have taken place in the leadership group within the senior national team. Babar Azam has once again been appointed as the white-ball skipper whereas Mahmood was recently roped in as the head coach ahead of his side's five-match T20I series versus New Zealand at home. Mahmood opined that Babar & Co. have performed well in recent ICC tournaments even though they have not won a major title since 2017.

Ahead of the NZ T20Is, which starts on April 18 in Rawalpindi, Mahmood said in a press conference, "Our strength is pure talent and skill. We’ve performed decently on the world stage in the format, and we’ve recently featured in the World Cup finals (2022) and semi-finals (2021). We know we haven’t won a big tournament since 2009 (Men’s T20 World Cup) or the Champions Trophy (2017). But you can never write off the Pakistan team, especially in the T20 format."

He further opined, "We’ve the depth and strength, but there are always areas for improvement. Looking at those aspects, especially in the areas that we’ve lagged behind, is something that I’ve worked on."

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Mahmood added, "So till the World Cup, we’d like to develop a structure and game plan, to give role clarity to players. In our squad, we’ve young talent Irfan Niazi, Azam (Khan) and Usman Khan. So definitely, we’ve to give these players a look. We need to use our bench strength. But at the same time, from the discussion I’ve had, we should be aware of our best XI when we play our first game on 6 June in the T20 World Cup."

Pakistan have a mix of young and experienced players in their squad for the home T20Is versus the second-stringed Black Caps. They have added Imad Wasim and Mohammed Amir, who came out of international retirements, whereas the squad also comprises debutants such asIrfan Niazi and Usman Khan.

The one-time winners will be eager to gel well and get some victories under the new leadership group before heading into the T20 WC. They are placed in Group A along with arch-rivals India, USA, Canada and Ireland.