Simon Doull: “He should not open for Pakistan. Saim and Haris should open with Rizwan in T20Is”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Simon Doull, the former New Zealand seamer, said Pakistan captain Babar Azam should not open the batting in T20Is anymore and should be replaced by either Mohammad Haris or Saim Ayub.
There has been a lot of debate about Azam and Mohammad Rizwan being Pakistan’s opening duo in the shortest format as many of their critics have pointed out that they take too long to score their runs.
This puts a lot of pressure on the middle order to boost the run rate when they come in.
With this in mind, Doull feels Haris and Ayub are better options than Azam, especially considering how well they performed for the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Haris, 22, accumulated 350 runs in 12 matches, which included two fifties, at an average of 31.81 and a strike-rate of 186.17.
Ayub, 21, made 341 runs in 12 games, which included five fifties, at an average of 28.41 and a strike-rate of 165.53.
“He should not open for Pakistan. Saim and Haris should open with Rizwan in T20Is,” Doull was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam’s next assignment as captain will be the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which will be played in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
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