Scott Styris: “Their batting is just too much relied on Babar Azam along with Mohammad Rizwan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris believes Pakistan are overly reliant on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan when it comes to their batting.
He questioned whether other batsmen will start to step up regularly in the event that they fail to score runs.
Azam, who recently stepped down as captain in all three formats, is starting to rediscover his form after a minor rough patch, while Rizwan has been solid and making big contributions regularly.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, there were encouraging signs from opening batsman Abdullah Shafique in particular as the 23-year-old scored 336 runs in eight matches, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 42.
Despite this, Styris admitted that it is worrying to see how much the men in green have been relying on Azam and Rizwan to score a big portion of their runs.
“Their batting is just too much relied on Babar Azam along with Mohammad Rizwan,” he told Sky Sports NZ as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam made 320 runs in nine World Cup matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
As for Rizwan, he accumulated 395 runs in nine games, which included a hundred and a half-century, at an average of 65.83.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They stopped their four-game losing streak with victories over Bangladesh and New Zealand, but it was not enough to earn them a spot in the semi-finals.
Pakistan ended their World Cup campaign on a sour note as they lost their final group stage game against England by 93 runs.
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
[TS_Poll id=”100″]