Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been opening the innings for Pakistan in the shortest format for quite some time now, but their dismal performance, as a pair, in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 has raised some questions.
Former cricketer, Aaqib Javed, has also criticized their strokeplay, believing that while both right-handers are consistent in scoring runs, their strike rates are insufficient for 150+ chases.
While emphasizing the importance of improving the runs/ball gap, the former pacer stated that when the team needs a run rate of 8 or 9, it must score quickly right from the word go.
We are stuck and it’s difficult to get out of it because one is the captain and the other is a vice-captain, and both play a similar style of cricket. They don’t get out, both are technical batters.
Rizwan, despite being the tournament’s leading run-scorer, faced severe criticism for maintaining a low strike rate, scoring 281 runs at a strike rate of 117.57, while Babar only managed to score 68 runs in six matches.
While answering a question regarding the opening combination in the upcoming World Cup, Aaqib said that Pakistan should open the innings with Fakhar Zaman as he can utilize the first six overs properly.
It is pertinent to mention here that earlier today, former wicket-keeper, Rashid Latif, revealed that Fakhar Zaman may miss the upcoming England series and T20I World Cup due to a knee injury.
