Mohammad Yousuf: “For the previous two years, we’ve had the same opening duo. We never discussed the topic of switching partners, nor should we”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batting coach Mohammad Yousuf said the topic of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan opening the batting in T20 Internationals shouldn’t be discussed.
Even though the duo have scored runs consistently, many people feel that their strike-rate is too low, which puts undue pressure on the middle order batsmen to fire and carry Pakistan to a competitive total.
However, Yousuf noted that the team management have never discussed the idea of swapping Azam or Rizwan for another batsman at the top of the order.
He further added that it will never be talked about since the duo are doing exactly what is expected of them.
“For the previous two years, we’ve had the same opening duo. We never discussed the topic of switching partners, nor should we,” the legendary batsman was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan. “There’s no way to switch the couple up.”
In the T20 tri-series against New Zealand and Bangladesh, Azam scored 192 runs in five matches, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 48 and a strike-rate of 123.87.
As for Rizwan, he accumulated 201 runs in five games, which also included two fifties, at an average of 50.25 and a strike-rate of 122.56.
They will now represent Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
The men in green will kick off their campaign against arch-rivals India on October 23 in Melbourne.
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir