Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee (MC) chairman Zaka Ashraf spoke to national team captain Babar Azam before they leave for the Sri Lanka Test tour.
Ashraf, who became the PCB head as MC chairman for four months, gave confidence to the captain and wished good luck for the upcoming tour.
"Wish the whole team good luck for the Sri Lanka tour and the Asia Cup. The whole nation is behind you, we expect a lot from you," the PCB chief told Babar.
Pakistan team will leave for the Sri Lanka Test tour tonight from Karachi. Babar and company will play two Tests in the Island country.
The skipper showed confidence in Ashraf's presence in the PCB office and vowed to take Pakistan cricket to the top.
"We won Asia Cup when you were the chairman previously. We will try to win the Asian event once again in your presence," Babar spoke to Ashraf.
"We are playing for Pakistan and our focus is to give everything back to our country," the world's prominent batter assured.
It must be noted here that Pakistan will host the Asia Cup as per the hybrid model which was presented by former MC chairman Najam Sethi. PCB will host the first four matches of the Asia Cup in the country whereas the second phase featuring nine matches will be held in Sri Lanka.
India will play their all matches in Sri Lanka as they had already refused to travel to Pakistan due to political influence. The event will be held from August 31 to September 17.
Itinerary of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka:
9 July – Pakistan land in Colombo
11 and 12 July – Warm-up game
16-20 July – First Test at Galle International Cricket Stadium
24-28 July – Second Test at Singhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Pakistan squad
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood
Player support personnel
Rehan-ul-Haq (team manager), Grant Bradburn (head coach), Andrew Puttick (batting coach), Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Aftab Khan (fielding coach), Abdul Rehman (assistant coach), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media and digital content manager), Lt Col Usman Anwari (Retd) (security manager), Talha Ejaz (analyst) and Malang Ali (masseur).
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.- Babar Azam