Simon Doull: “With all the pressure of Shaheen up front on the opening batsmen, why isn’t Babar taking the strike?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Simon Doull, the former New Zealand fast bowler and well-known cricket commentator, has questioned why Pakistan captain Babar Azam didn’t want to face left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Azam captained the Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 8 earlier in 2023, while Afridi led the Lahore Qalandars to their second consecutive title.
When commentating during a match between the Zalmi and Qalandars, Doull picked up on the fact that the Pakistan skipper didn’t want to take strike against the pace spearhead and let Mohammad Haris do it instead.
“With all the pressure of Shaheen up front on the opening batsmen, why isn’t Babar taking the strike?” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan. “Trust me these things are discussed between openers before coming on to the crease.”
Azam and Afridi were both recently involved in Pakistan’s five-match ODI series against New Zealand, with the former amassing 276 runs, which included a hundred and two half-centuries, at an average of 55.20.
Afridi, meanwhile, claimed eight wickets in four matches at an average of 24.50.