Pakistan’s Test captain Azhar Ali, in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday, claimed that he was not afraid of losing the responsibility of captaining the side in the longer format.

Ali stated that luck and form did not favour him in the recently concluded series against Australia Down Under where the Men in Green were clean swept in the two-match series.

“Both form and luck did not favour me during the tour of Australia. We will have to step out of the shadow of fear for better performances. I am not afraid of losing captaincy. I will try to enforce my plans more completely,” said Ali.

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 The 34-year-old expressed disappointment at Pakistan’s recent series defeat but claimed that the performance of batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were the positives for the Men in Green.

“We are disappointed after the defeats at the hands of Australia. We went there with full preparations. We gave a chance to a young bowling attack but unfortunately they couldn’t deliver. Out batting order did not perform well either. It is impossible to make a comeback in Australia after playing badly. The batting performances of batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan during the series were the positives for the team,” he said.

Ali revealed that he tried to bring a new approach to the team and that no player could stay in the team without performing.

“I tried to come out with the team with a new approach. Nobody can stay in the team without performing, whether it is a captain or a player. Imran Khan was probably the only captain who got players selected according to his own preferences. There is no truth to me trying to finding residence in England. My son was in England for the last three years and I have called him back now. Everything I have is in Pakistan,” he said.

Ali expressed pride at the return of Test cricket to Pakistan after a gap of nearly ten years.

“It is a matter of pride for us that Test cricket will return to Pakistan after a gap of ten years. We have conducted meetings for the selection in the series against Sri Lanka. The team for the series will be announced tomorrow by the chief selector,” he said.