Mickey Arthur: “Our batting does not just revolve around Babar and Rizwan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur has made it clear that the national team doesn’t rely on captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan to score all the runs.
Azam and Rizwan have been Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorers over the past couple of years, which has led many to call them the heart of the batting line-up.
However, Arthur pointed out that other batsmen have been stepping up as well.
This has been true in the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup with the emergence of opener Abdullah Shafique and the sparkling resurgence of top order batsman Fakhar Zaman. Players like Saud Shakeel have made valuable contributions too.
“Our batting does not just revolve around Babar and Rizwan,” Arthur was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan kickstarted the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They ended their four-game skid and kept their semi-final hopes alive with much-needed wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Pakistan will be back in action on November 11 when they take on England in Kolkata.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali