After suffering a shock exit in the group stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup, some of the Pakistan players arrived in Lahore on Wednesday.
According to Geo News, the players and the officials arrived at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport via a private airline flight in the early hours of Wednesday.
The players who returned included Naseem Shah, Usman Khan and senior manager Wahab Riaz. Some of the players from the 15-player squad decided to extend their stay in the United States after Pakistan’s shocking exit from the tournament.
Skipper Babar Azam, along with Imad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Azam Khan, will leave for Pakistan on June 22.
Mohammad Amir has also stayed behind with the players but will travel to England in a couple of days to join Derbyshire in the County Championship.
Geo News also reported that Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten will return to his home after his team failed to qualify for the Super 8 stage.
Pakistan ended their campaign with a three-wicket win over Ireland in Florida on Sunday, a dead rubber after India and USA, from Group A, advanced to the Super 8 stage.
Placed in Group A, Pakistan endured back-to-back defeats against the co-hosts USA and then to their bitter rival, India.
They bounced back with two wins on the trot, but it wasn’t enough to turn their woeful campaign around and secure a spot in the Super 8.
After Pakistan’s early exit, questions were raised regarding Babar’s future as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.
While addressing a press conference last Sunday, he spoke about his future and assured that he would “openly” tell everyone if he decides to step down as the skipper yet again.
“Secondly – about the captaincy – when I had left it, I thought that I shouldn’t be doing it now, that’s why I left it, and I announced it myself,” Babar said in the post-match press conference. (ANI)
