Babar Azam’s mother was on ventilator when the Pakistan skipper went about leading his team to a thumping victory over arch-rivals India in their T20 World Cup match in Dubai last Sunday.

This was revealed by his father, Azam Siddiqui, on Saturday. Babar’s father has posted a message on his Instagram account saying that the Pakistan captain has played all three World Cup games so far “in severe distress”.

“It’s time for my nation to know some truth. Congratulations to all of you on the victory in all the three games. There was a big test at our house. On the day the match was against India, on that day Babar’s mother was on a ventilator,” Siddiqui wrote. “Babar played all three matches in severe distress. I don’t want to come here… but I came so that Babar may not get weak,” he added.

Pakistan are unbeaten in the tournament so far and their next match is against Namibia on Tuesday.