Should Pakistan Change 3-2 Bowling Combination for Rest of T20 World Cup?

Pakistan has been using a near-perfect bowling combination of three pacers and two spinners in the shortest format of cricket since the beginning of the year, with Iftikhar Ahmed serving as a third spinner at times.

This bowling setup has proven to be effective for the Men in Green in the recent past, as both spinners, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, have proven their talent not only with the ball but as solid middle-order batters as well.

The Babar Azam-led squad is currently in Australia for the T20 World Cup 2022, where they lost the first match against India and will face Zimbabwe and South Africa on October 27 and November 3, in Perth and Sydney, respectively.

Former cricketers and experts believe that Babar Azam should select four pacers for the remaining games, particularly for matches in Perth and Sydney, where the surfaces are seen as more pacer-friendly than other Australian venues.

The Men in Green have a strong pace attack, with Mohammad Wasim standing out as a competent fourth pacer who can also bat in the death overs, as fans saw in the first warm-up match against England, where he struck 26 off 16.

Now, the problem with adding the fourth pacer is that it eliminates one of the middle-order batters, possibly Asif Ali or Haider Ali, who have already been struggling with poor form, which strengthens the case for an extra pacer.

Second, in the match against India, Babar Azam was forced to bowl the over with Mohammad Nawaz, which completely changed the outcome of the match, and he must now be considering other options. The ball was moving around for the most part of the two innings in the game against India and the arch-rivals made the most of it because of their fourth fast-bowling option, Hardik Pandya. Although India had two proper spinners, Axar Patel was taken out of the attack after Iftikhar Ahmed took him to the cleaners with three sixes in his first over.

Mohammad Wasim has played 17 T20I matches and has taken 25 wickets at an average of 20.7 and an economy rate of 8.37, indicating that he has the ability to affect the fate of the team in the remaining games.

Another factor attracting the idea of a fourth pacer is Shaheen Shah’s fitness. He has yet to regain his previous rhythm, which may urge the skipper to go with the fourth pacer for the remainder of the tournament. In addition, there are other options like Mohammad Hasnain and Shahnawaz Dahani, who have proven themselves on the big stage before as well.

Do you think Pakistan should go with four pacers? Let us know in the comments section.