Islamabad: Despite exiting the ODI World Cup 2023 in the group stages, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam received a warm welcome on his return home on Sunday night.

Pakistan failed to make the knockout stages for the third successive World Cup after losing five of their nine matches. Those losses included defeated against arch-rivals India and bitter rivals Afghanistan.

The Men in Green also lost to Australia, South Africa, and England. Babar’s men registered wins against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh but it was not enough to seal their progress to the semifinal. The 1992 world champions finished fifth in the points table with eight points in nine matches.

Despite the poor display, fans welcomed skipper Babar Azam as he returned home from a disappointing campaign.

“King Babar, I love you. Welcome back,” fans shouted while trying to click selfies with the star batter, who was accompanied by security officials at the airport.

Babar had a forgetful outing in India both as a batter and the skipper. A lot was expected from the star player, who entered the World Cup as the No.1 batter. Babar scored 320 runs in 9 matches at an average of 40.00 including four half-centuries. His captaincy also came under huge scrutiny owing to some questionable decisions. Reports are rife that Babar will step down as the Pakistan captain after Pakistan’s poor World Cup campaign.