Sanjay Manjrekar: “Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan can’t be opening together. Both of them were not really keen to strike early”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan cannot open the batting together for Pakistan as they are “not really keen to strike early”.
Azam and Rizwan used to be the go-to openers, but that has changed as of late with Saim Ayub coming into the side.
Ayub now opens with Rizwan, while Azam has moved down to the number three spot.
Manjrekar admitted this was a positive move for the men in green as they needed someone who could score quick runs right from the get-go.
Additionally, he thinks having a “left-hand, right-hand combination is not such a bad thing”.
“I’m glad they have made a change in the batting order. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan can’t be opening together. Both of them were not really keen to strike early, so they put somebody else in at the top. Left-hand, right-hand combination is not such a bad thing. So some good things happening there,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently captained Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and made 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
As for Rizwan, he finished with 110 runs in four games, which included a top score of 53 not out, at an average of 36.66 and a strike-rate of 90.90.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India before rebounding to defeat Canada and Ireland.
Despite picking up back-to-back victories, the men in green were eliminated in the group stage of the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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