Colombo, February 18 Players cannot take these things to heart, as everyone is trying to win matches for Pakistan, said all-rounder Shadab Khan after Babar Azam was not sent in to bat against Namibia and Shaheen Shah Afridi was dropped from the playing XI.
Pakistan, who had suffered a crushing defeat to India, qualified for the T20 World Cup Super Eights with a massive 102-run victory over Namibia here on Wednesday.
"As a professional, you can't take these things to heart. The team's environment and messages are very clear, so it's not a problem for any player. Everyone is trying to help the team win," Shadab told reporters after the match.
"The Super Eights will be tough. There will be pressure games. At the end of the day, you can only control certain things, so you should focus on controlling those."
When further questioned about why Babar wasn't sent in to bat and if there was any issue with Pakistan's selection calls, Shadab said it wasn't a case of experimentation.
"Do you really think Pakistan experiments that much? I don't think so. Our messages are very clear. If you're talking about Babar not being called to bat, he knows exactly when his role comes into play," he said.
"The messages are clear for every player. The team changes according to conditions, and that's what is happening," Shadab added.
Shadab said he didn't have any conversation with Wasim Akram before the game after he bowled only one expensive over against India.
"No, I didn't really talk to Wasim about anything. As for criticism, you can't control it. Everyone has their own opinions. I think since I came back, there was just one over where things didn't go well, and because of that, I faced a lot of criticism," he said.
"But I don't need to justify that. I focus on what I can control. A bad day or a bad over can happen. It's T20 cricket -- you can give runs, or you can take wickets. I don't think too much about it."
"Our former cricketers have their own opinions, and they've done great things for Pakistan. But at the end of the day, even in the World Cup, we as a team have achieved results, like defeating India in 2021. Criticism is part of cricket's history," Shadab added.
Namibia's Craig Williams said the heavy defeat after they were shot out for 97 was disappointing and not a reflection of their preparations in the lead-up to the tournament.
"It's obviously disappointing because we've put in a lot of hard work and a lot of prep and we've actually had a very good three months," he said.
"We'll have to go back and look closely at where it went wrong. We knew that the pitch would slow up a little bit in the second innings and it would take a little bit of a turn."
"Our guys didn't really choose the right options and we just lost wickets again just like we have done throughout the whole tournament in critical times, so extremely disappointed," Williams added.
