Robin Uthappa: “They are so heavily dependent on Rizwan and Babar that you would want to separate them, I feel, when they bat first”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former India batsman Robin Uthappa said Pakistan are “so heavily dependent” on captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the batting department.
The duo open for the men in green in T20 Internationals and have been the only two consistent run-scorers for the team.
Despite how well they have done, Uthappa said Pakistan should look to move one of them down the order when the side bats first so that they can stabilise the innings if a batting collapse occurs.
“They are so heavily dependent on Rizwan and Babar that you would want to separate them, I feel, when they bat first,” he said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out programme.
In the ongoing T20 World Cup, Azam has scored 14 runs in four matches at an average of 3.50 and a strike-rate of 46.66.
As for Rizwan, he has made 71 runs in four games at an average of 17.75 and a strike-rate of 100.
Pakistan can still reach the semi-finals as they managed to beat South Africa by 33 runs via the D/L method on Thursday.
Their next match will be against Bangladesh on Sunday in Adelaide.
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, 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: Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
[TS_Poll id=”26″]