"Our management and captain said..." - Mohammad Rizwan on breaking his opening pair with Babar Azam in T20Is

Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan recently discussed the team management’s decision to split the opening pair of him and Babar Azam in T20Is. Mohammad Rizwan emphasized the management’s focus on experimenting with different batting combinations.

Babar and Rizwan have been the most prolific pairs for the Pakistan team in T20I history, scoring 2,400 runs. The duo added over five 150+ stands in the format, with the best score of 203*. However, the management chose to demote Babar to No. 3 in the order.

The Pakistan team split the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the recent five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The team management tried to partner Saim Ayub with Rizwan at the top, but the experiment didn’t yield results for them.

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People Have Understood It In Another Way – Mohammad Rizwan

During an interview with Cricbuzz at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Mohammad Rizwan emphasized the team’s strategic experimentation ahead of the T20 World Cup. He explained that they are exploring various opening combinations, including left-right.

“This is not the fact and what our management said, probably people have understood it in another way. Our management and captain said that we are trying out different things for the World Cup and for that we want to see what can be our best XI. Like say we can have left-right combination at the top and Saim Ayub is left-hander. There is Fakhar Zaman also,” said Rizwan.

“So for the World Cup we were experimenting with left-right combination. I don’t think it is a wrong decision and if I am destined to [open] in that case I will do it in future and I am not angry with the thinking process of the management and neither is Babar Azam. Look they said, we are going to West Indies and there will be spin and every country is trying for left-right combination and so our management is also giving that a thought,” he added.

Babar Azam excelled with three half-centuries against New Zealand. However, the Rizwan-Ayub pairing failed to deliver, as their partnership peaked at only 33 runs in the first four games. This prompted a change in the opening combination for the final match.

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Saim Ayub played a quick-fire cameo of 27 runs off 8 deliveries during the series opener. However, the left-handed batter registered scores of 1 (3), 10 (13), and 1 (6) in the next three matches. Haseebullah Khan replaced Saim Ayub in the fifth and final T20I match.

Despite his struggles in three T20Is, Rizwan showcased his prowess in the fourth match against New Zealand in Christchurch. His unbeaten knock of 90 runs from 63 balls propelled Pakistan to a competitive total of 159, yet the hosts managed to secure victory by five wickets.

Pakistan will face England in a four-match T20I series in May, ahead of the much-awaited T20 World Cup set to be held in the USA and the West Indies in June. In the tournament, Pakistan is placed in Group A alongside India, the United States, Canada, and Ireland.

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