The Babar Azam-led Green Shirts have returned home after their early exit from the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 in India.
Captain Babar Azam returned to Pakistan on a private flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with the manager and other staff of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Upon his return to Lahore at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, the skipper was surrounded by security amid the crowd chanting slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.
The team, however, has returned to the country in groups, as another batch of players — including Agha Salman, Imam-ul-Haq and Shaheen Shah Afridi — already arrived in Lahore from Kolkata via Dubai, while some headed straight to their hometowns.
After their immensely unsatisfactory performance in the ongoing mega event in India, the Pakistan squad was set to fly out of India in two groups as the Green Shirts’ ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup journey came to an end on Saturday.
In their last group match, England defeated Pakistan by an impressive 93 runs at Kolkata’s Edens Gardens, with Green Shirts crashing out of the mega tournament.
The first batch of 11 members of the team departed from Kolkata at 8:55am on Sunday via Emirates flight EK571. The remaining members flew out from Kolkata at 08:20 pm on the same day via Emirates flight EK573. After landing in Dubai, the players and squad members were to leave for their respective cities.
