Misbah-ul-Haq: “You know the top three: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Saim Ayub”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has selected Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub to form the top three for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June.
Azam and Rizwan have cemented their spots in the T20I squad, while Ayub is still relatively new to the side, but has been utilised more often.
In the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, Ayub was promoted up the batting order and opened with Rizwan, while Azam was pushed down to the number three spot.
It is likely the men in green will maintain this structure going forward as they don’t have many more matches to conduct experiments.
Nonetheless, Misbah reiterated that Pakistan’s top three for the T20 World Cup is confirmed.
“You know the top three: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Saim Ayub,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and finished as the highest run-scorer with 569 runs in 11 games, which included a century and five fifties, at an average of 56.90 and a strike-rate of 142.60.
Ayub, who also played for the Zalmi, amassed 345 runs in 11 matches, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 31.36 and a strike-rate of 157.53.
As for Rizwan, he was in charge of the Multan Sultans and scored 407 runs in 12 games, which included four fifties, at an average of 33.91 and a strike-rate of 122.22.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore from April 18 to 27.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Zaman Khan
Non-travelling reserves: Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha