Ramiz Raja mentions Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma as he defends Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan over strike-rate criticism

Former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja has defended Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as the duo face severe criticism for their strike rate in T20s.

Both the batters have been facing criticism for their strike rate for quite some time now and their performance in the ongoing T20 World Cup has only piled up the pressure on them. They opened the innings in the first two games and Pakistan ended up on the losing side on both occasions.

For the third game, Saim Ayub replaced Babar Azam as the opener and although he failed to do well too, Pakistan managed to win the game against Canada. In the first game against the USA, Rizwan scored 9 runs off 8 balls while Babar scored 44 off 43. At one stage, Babar was batting on 9 off 23 balls before accelerating.

In the second game against India, both the senior batters failed to impress again. Babar was out for 13 runs off 10 balls while Rizwan managed to score 31 runs off 44 balls. Against Canada, both the batters had a strike rate of 100. Rizwan scored a run-a-ball 53 while Babar scored 33 in as many balls.

Ramiz Raja defends Pakistan duo:

With both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan struggling with their strike rate in the T20 World Cup, there have been calls from several quarters to remove them as openers. However, Ramiz Raja believes otherwise. The former cricketer-turned-commentator has opined that although Babar and Rizwan cannot 'give you the strike rate of a Rohit or a Virat', they give solidity to the top order.

"Looking at what Pakistan have got, you cannot afford to start by losing wickets. They may not give you the strike rate of a Rohit (Sharma) or a Virat (Kohli), but, you know, at least they give you solidity.

"And this Pakistan team, with the kind of batting lineup that they've got, they've got to play within what they have got. So it's important that they start off with Babar and Rizwan because it takes years to establish an opening partnership and pair," Raja told Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have stayed alive in the tournament by beating Canada in their last game. The Men in Green started their campaign with losses against the USA and India before opening their account with a win over Canada. They will be taking on Ireland in their last group game and need to win it to remain in contention for the Super 8s stage.