Harsha Bhogle: “I think Babar becomes twice a player if he’s got a really good opening combination ahead of him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle believes Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam is twice as good if he has “a really good opening combination ahead of him.”
Pakistan’s opening partnership in ODIs underwent a couple of changes as of late, especially during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
The men in green started with regular openers Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman before the latter was dropped after the opening match against the Netherlands due to his prolonged bad form.
Abdullah Shafique was subsequently brought in and opened the batting with Imam for the next five games against Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
However, Zaman returned for the match against Bangladesh and opened with Shafique as Imam had failed to have much of an impact.
Since Pakistan have consistently rejigged their opening pair, Bhogle feels that they need to sort it out as Azam’s confidence gets boosted if the openers set a solid foundation to build on.
“I think Babar becomes twice a player if he’s got a really good opening combination ahead of him,” he told Cricbuzz as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently led Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and scored 125 runs in five games, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 31.25 and a strike-rate of 138.88.
He is now featuring in the three-match T20I series against Ireland and made 57 and 0 in the first two games. The series is currently tied at 1-1 going into the third match on May 14.
Following the Ireland series, Pakistan will play four T20Is against England from May 22 to May 30.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan