Pakistan team is preparing for the upcoming tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe with a positive frame of mind despite controversies arising over the past few days.

While speaking during a virtual press conference on Sunday, all-rounder Shadab Khan brushed aside the notion that skipper Babar Azam’s harassment case, Sharjeel Khan’s controversial selection and rift between senior player Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez is affecting the team’s morale.

“The atmosphere inside the dressing room is really good and these negative things don’t affect us as we don’t talk much about things other than cricket. Our job is to play cricket and we try to help each other in doing that. We maintain a positive attitude because that is important for the team to progress in the right direction,” said Shadab.

The leg-spinner also highlighted the importance of the upcoming ODI series against South Africa bearing in mind 2023 World Cup qualification.

“We are expecting a good series against South Africa because that [ODI series] will count towards World Cup qualification. It is important for us to win this series,” he said.

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He also shed light on the ongoing training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

“We haven’t played ODI cricket since the Zimbabwe series so we have gone through long sessions during the camp in the last couple of days. We will also play couple of practice matches inorder to ensure that our body is used to playing ODI cricket,” he concluded.