Inzamam-ul-Haq: “It is very different after six overs, so Babar will face difficulty if he plays lower down the order”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Inzamam-ul-Haq said he feels Pakistan captain Babar Azam will find it difficult to bat if he demotes himself lower down the batting order in T20Is.
Azam opens the batting with Mohammad Rizwan right now and has been a consistent run-scorer in the format.
Despite this, he has been targeted for his low strike-rate, which his critics say puts unnecessary pressure on the other batsmen.
While the idea of Azam batting at number three has been floated around, Inzamam believes it wouldn’t work as it may be tough for the 28-year-old to get going if he comes in after the powerplay.
“It is very different after six overs, so Babar will face difficulty if he plays lower down the order,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam’s most recent T20I assignment was a five-match series against New Zealand, where he made 130 runs, which included a century, at an average of 43.33 and a strike-rate of 146.06.
His next assignment will be captaining Pakistan in a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in July.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood