Highlights
- Matthew Hayden was Pakistan team’s mentor in 2021 T20I World Cup
- Pakistan had qualified for the semi-finals of the T20I World Cup
- Matthew Hayden will join the Pakistan team on October 15
ICC T20I World Cup: Babar Azam-led Pakistan team’s run hasn’t ended in the Asia Cup. They have qualified for the all-important finals and will lock horns with Sri Lanka on August 11, 2022, at the Dubai International Stadium. The boys in green have registered a euphoric rise in International cricket and the past 12 months in their cricketing system have propelled youngsters to go on the big stage and rub shoulders with the big boys of world cricket. The Pakistan team has found a hero in Babar Azam, who also happens to be their skipper in all three formats.
Team Pakistan’s transformation started when they defeated India in the first league game of the 2021 ICC WorlD cup, which was played at the Dubai International Stadium. Experts and fans of the game did not give them much chance in the T20I World Cup, but banking on certain players they qualified for the semi-finals of the event but went out crashing to Australia at a very crucial time. It is not just Azam, but yet another man who helped them regain their lost glory, Australian stalwart Matthew Hayden.
As of now, it seems that the Pakistan team has found a liking for Hayden aka Haydos and in return, the Australian legend has tried his very best to transform the team’s attitude and their style of playing the game. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earlier today announced that left-handed batter Matthew Hayden will join their squad and will be the team’s mentor for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
“I welcome Matthew Hayden back to the Pakistan cricketing outfit. He, without any grain of doubt, is a proven performer with all his credentials acknowledged and recognized all over the world. He certainly has a lot of knowledge about the Australian conditions and I am confident that his involvement will significantly benefit our extremely talented cricketers for the World Cup and future tours Down Under“, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said.
The left-handed batsman from Australia will join Babar Azam and co. in Brisbane on October 15, the same day when Pakistan arrives from Christchurch after competing in a T20I series with Bangladesh and hosts New Zealand.