Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan's Middle Order Is A Weak Link And Is Mainly Dependent On Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan: Danish Kaneria

Danish Kaneria, a former cricketer, said that Pakistan “heavily relied” on its skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and that the team failed to develop middle-order players after the T20 World Cup last year.

At the ICC event in 2021, Babar and Rizwan single-handedly ended India’s game in their group encounter.

Speaking to indiatoday.in, Danish Kaneria claimed that the current Pakistani team lacked Shoaib Malik, a player who could lead the team out of danger. The former leg-spinner stated that Pakistan’s batting would be exposed if the openers faltered because the middle order lacked talent and experience.

“Absolutely! Because he (Babar) and Mohammad Rizwan are both openers, Pakistan strongly relies on them. In 2021, they destroyed the Indian bowling. Both ended the game on their own. It was amazing to watch how they batted.”

“The main issue is that Pakistan did not play as many T20 Internationals after the 2021 T20 World Cup and they did not produce any middle order players “Kaneria spoke to India Today.

‘India has an upper hand because of their bowling strength’: Danish Kaneria

On August 28, India and Pakistan will square off in the Asia Cup’s opening game, and Danish Kaneria claimed that India had the advantage due to their superior bowling. He, however, refrained from making a snap judgment since he initially wanted to observe players who were making a comeback from injury.

“It is too soon to say. KL Rahul is returning from injury, therefore I am interested to watch how he does in the Zimbabwe series. Then, a query regarding Rohit Sharma, who is recovering from a back injury, is raised.

“Along with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fitness issue, Naseem Shah was hobbling about the Pakistani team with a knee ailment. There are a few players on the injured list from each team.”

“India currently has that influence and can return because they have been playing a lot of T20 cricket. Thus, 40% goes to Pakistan and 60% to India. India received 60% due to their superior bowling performance.

“With world-class bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravindra Jadeja, India has strong spin bowling. Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, are two fast bowlers who may work miracles for team India” Danish Kaneria Added.

Asia Cup 2022 will be hosted by Sri Lanka in UAE. A total of 13 matches will take place during the tournament. India is the defending champions of the tournament, which won the title back in 2018 by defeating Bangladesh in the final.

Also Read: IND vs ZIM: Sanjay Manjrekar Thinks That KL Rahul Needs To Prove The Selectors That He Still Has His Batting Rhythm