Injury-hit Babar Azam backs Pakistan cricket team ahead of 'tough' New Zealand tour

In brief:

• Pakistani cricket team 'a force to reckon with', says Babar Azam
• Skipper suffered right-thumb fracture, ruled out of New Zealand T20Is
• Top batter was recently named in Wisden's Test Team of the Year 2020
• Earlier this month, Babar Azam was accused of violence and sexual abuse

KARACHI: Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has shared a message of support for the green shirts, who are currently in Christchurch to play a series against New Zealand.

Azam, who's untimely injury has become a major setback for the squad as it gears up to face the Kiwis, said he was "really proud of this young and dynamic team".

Read more: Babar Azam, Shan Masood named in Wisden's Test Team of the Year 2020

"Give your best guys and enjoy your game. You are a force to reckon with," he wrote on Twitter.

Azam was ruled out of the New Zealand T20Is after suffering a fracture in his right thumb during Sunday morning’s practice session.

He "was taken to a local hospital where X-rays confirmed his fracture," the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had confirmed in a statement.

The Pakistani cricketer, alongside his teammate Shan Masood, was recently named in the Wisden's Test Team of the Year 2020, as one of the players with the best performance during the December 2019-2020 period.

"Babar Azam made sure the return of Test cricket was a joyous, triumphant one, and it was fitting that he, a player who had already inspired such hope in the country, should provide even more,” wrote Wisden.

The world’s second-ranked T20I batter was earlier this month was accused of violence and sexual abuse by a woman named Hamiza. However, police had said Tuesday the complainant did not provide concrete evidence to support her claims.

Related: Ramiz Raja says Queenstown's uneven pitch caused Babar Azam's injury

Hamiza had leveled the accusations against Azam in a press conference claiming she was his neighbour and old school fellow. The cricketer had "tricked her into love" and "tortured" her when she demanded he marry her, she had alleged.

In a petition she filed in the lower courts, she had said she financially supported Azam when he was a "struggling cricketer" and spent "millions of rupees on him".