Pakistan’s Fragile Middle Order Irks Rashid Latif

Pakistan’s former cricketer, Rashid Latif has raised concerns over the lack of a strong middle-order in the current Pakistan cricket team.

Expressing his views on Pakistan’s current ODI team keeping the upcoming World Cup in perspective, Rashid Latif has highlighted the lack of stability in the middle-order of the batting lineup.

According to Rashid Latif, even if an opener is moved to the middle order, he cannot be considered a true middle-order player. He pointed out that Haris Sohail, who is a middle-order player, is currently not playing, and Salman Ali Agha is the only current middle-order batter in the playing XI.

Furthermore, he stated that scoring runs in T20 cricket is easier as compared to the 50-over format. Rashid Latif went on to declare that Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Sha Masood can be effective in T20 cricket but ODI is entirely different. He emphasized that constructing an innings in a 50-over game requires a player like Iftikhar Ahmed in the middle order, who is capable of assessing the situation and playing accordingly.

The former cricketer also mentioned that there are many players playing in domestic cricket as middle-order batters, and the team has not even tried them.

The former cricketer concluded by saying that the team needs solid middle-order players, as they have plenty of options for opening but no solid middle-order.