“I am under no pressure, I’ve been doing this for the last two or three years,” Babar Azam said in defense of his captaincy.

“I am under no pressure, I’ve been doing this for the last two or three years,” Babar Azam said in defense of his captaincy. In the City of Joy, the festival season never really ends. When Pakistan initially arrived here, Kolkata was still reeling from the Durga Puja.

When they make their final appearance in the World Cup two weeks later. Kali Puja and Diwali are on the horizon. Though their odds of making it to the semifinals are as dim as getting to a party in the city on time during the festival—you would be hitting into blocks after blocks—the atmosphere in their camp would be everything but joyous.

In a same vein, Pakistan’s chances of making it to the semifinals are mostly blocked. With the exception of dreamers and romantics, everyone would still hold out hope that they would make it to the last four, when they would play India in a fantastic knockout match.

But in order to do that, they must defeat England by 287 runs in the event that they bat first or by 284 balls remaining in the event that they are chasing. In a semi-serious tone, Pakistani captain Babar Azam stated, “I believe there is one match remaining.”

It’s never certain. That’s cricket. He also became rather philosophical, saying that there should always be hope. You should always have hope, no matter what stage or type of work you do, and I truly believe that.

However, Babar would know deep down that the mission they face is unlikely to succeed. This is a miracle taken too far, even by their usual ability to work miracles. Instead, it’s a moment to lament over passed up chances.

This was traditional Pakistan; it straddled the line between being good and great. They defeated New Zealand on DLS while chasing a steel total, pulling off the greatest chase in the tournament’s history. However, they were unable to turn the spark into a long-lasting fire.

Out of all the losses, Babar is still upset about the one by a wicket against South Africa. He stated, “I believe that the South African match cost us; we should have won that match, but sadly, we didn’t win that, which is why we are in this situation now.”

However, the crushing defeat at the hands of India in the Ahmedabad cauldron—followed by four consecutive losses on the spin—was one that mentally stunned them. It was always going to be difficult for them to go to the final four after that.

Babar’s leadership was at the center of the storm. Shahid Afridi was one of the loudest, yelling during a SAMA TV program.

“Everything comes right back to the captain at the end of the day, so if he gives it his all on the field and supports other players in between overs, the entire team will get [more] active because when they see that the captain is giving it his all and we are not, they feel ashamed that my captain is doing so much, why can’t I be the same?” the captain said.