In Pakistan’s pre-WC match against South Africa, Babar Azam was the last player to enter the nets during training

Pakistan, who must defeat South Africa to have any chance of making the World Cup semifinals, concluded their preparations for the match on Thursday. The team’s captain, Babar Azam, was the last to come in the nets.

The 29-year-old is under a lot of pressure since Pakistan has lost its last three games and a loss against the undefeated South Africans will all but eliminate them from the semifinals.

To advance to the semifinals, Pakistan must win each of their last four league stage matches and hope that the other outcomes work out as well.

In a statement issued earlier in the day, the Pakistan Cricket Board urged supporters to support the squad and pledged to take all necessary steps to enhance the national team, which has struggled mightily in this World Cup.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the head selector, and Babar were both granted “freedom and support in in forming the squad for the ICC World Cup 2023,” according to the PCB.

Pakistan’s training session here started immediately after the announcement, and Babar stayed mostly to himself.

He fielded for thirty minutes, and then was the last player to enter the nets to bat.

He sat down to speak with the support personnel before going into the nets to face throwdown specialists and seamers, giving the impression that he was going to play it cool. Imam-ul-Haq, the opening batsman, was also seen chatting with Babar.

Fakhar Zaman and Imam also scored a hit off the seam and spin spinners in the area.

Even though South Africa does not have a bowler like Zaman Khan in their ranks, he was seen helping the batters with their preparations with his slingy bowling motion.

Zaman had a knee injury just before the tournament, and he hasn’t fully recovered.

Despite having a lengthy session on Wednesday, the left-handed hitter only batted briefly on Thursday and is not expected to be selected for the starting lineup.

Considering that Imam has reached double digits in all five of his World Cup games but has only managed one fifty, the Pakistani management is probably going to give the batsman another opportunity.

However, reports suggest that Mohammad Nawaz would take Usama Mir’s position as the spinner, with the side favoring a finger spinner on the sluggish Chepauk surface.