PAK vs NED: Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan Are Limited And Not Ready To Get Out Of Their Comfort Zone: Mohammad Amir
Published - 30 Oct 2022, 12:09 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:14 AM
Pakistan’s performance at the Australia 2022 T20 World Cup has not been good. Babar Azam’s men were defeated by India by four wickets in the tournament’s opening match before suffering a discouraging one-run loss to Zimbabwe in the following contest.
Both times, Pakistan’s renowned opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed to make a significant impact, which was a key factor in the team’s defeat.
Pakistan scored a respectable 159 for 8 in the opening game, but they were unable to surpass Zimbabwe’s meagre 131 run target. The Pakistani players have taken a lot of heat for their performance ever since their second loss in the T20 spectacular. The criticism has also been directed at their opening duet.
Mohammad Amir Criticizes Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan
Mohammad Amir, a former Pakistani bowler, believes that neither batter is prepared to leave their comfort zone.
“All of this started when Misbah (Misbah-ul-Haq) became the head coach and he made (Mohammad) Rizwan open and sacrificed a Fakhar (Zaman), who was Pakistan’s opener in T20 cricket at that time,” Amir said in Hindi on 24 News HD.
“Good players can perform anywhere. In order to save your place in the team, you said you can’t bat at number 5, and because of that Fakhar was sacrificed. Both openers (Rizwan and Babar Azam) are limited, and are not ready to get out of their comfort zone,” he added.
The opening partnership for Pakistan scored just one run against India. Rizwan earned 4 points off of 12 balls as Babar was disqualified for a golden duck. The pair added 13 runs for the first wicket in the second game. Rizwan went out after 16 balls, while Babar was out after 4 off 9.
Although Pakistan struggled in both of their powerplays during this World Cup due to early wickets, they have been steady in this phase even when their top order has scored runs.
In fact, Pakistan has the third-best average in the powerplay since the end of the 2021 World Cup, behind India and New Zealand, which supports the notion that they may need to split up their opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
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ICC T20 Word Cup 2022 Mohammad Amir Mohammad Rizwan PAK vs NED Pakistan National Cricket Team Pakistan vs Netherlands
