Mohammad Wasim: “You are talking about breaking up the best opening pair in world cricket. They are our strongest point, and the numbers show they have scored runs with great consistency”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan chief selector Mohammad Wasim believes it would be a huge mistake to break up the opening partnership of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Azam, who captains the men in green, and Rizwan open the batting in T20Is and have scored runs consistently.
Nonetheless, there has been talk of moving one of them down the order in order to give another batsman, such as Fakhar Zaman, the opportunity to open and score quick runs.
Despite the fact that Azam and Rizwan have been criticised numerous time for their low strike-rate, Wasim insisted that separating them will backfire big time.
“You are talking about breaking up the best opening pair in world cricket. They are our strongest point, and the numbers show they have scored runs with great consistency,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
In the recent series against New Zealand, Azam scored 226 runs in two Tests at an average of 56.50.
Rizwan wasn’t included in the playing XI for both matches as Sarfaraz Ahmed got selected ahead of him.
Sarfaraz, who used to captain Pakistan, was unstoppable with the bat as he accumulated 335 runs, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 83.75.
Rizwan did return for the three-match ODI series, where he made 182 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 91.
Azam, meanwhile, made 149 runs, which also included two half-centuries, at an average of 49.66.
Azam, Rizwan and Sarfaraz will now play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where they will captain the Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators respectively.
PSL 8 will be held from February 13 to March 19 in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem and James Neesham
Multan Sultans Squad for PSL 8: David Miller, Josh Little, Mohammad Rizwan, Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Shan Masood, Akeal Hosein, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David, Anwar Ali, Sameen Gul, Sarwar Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah, Adil Rashid and Arafat Minhas
Quetta Gladiators Squad for PSL 8: Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Wanindu Hasaranga, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jason Roy, Odean Smith, Ahsan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Zahid, Naveen-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Umaid Asif, Will Smeed, Aimal Khan, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Martin Guptill and Omair Bin Yousuf