Mickey Arthur: “Both Babar and Rizwan are excellent players, but cricket has evolved. They are not perfect for the kind of cricket needed to play in T20s today”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has made a brutally honest admission about batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, saying they aren’t T20I players.
He noted that “cricket has evolved” and the duo, despite being “excellent players”, are not suited for the shortest format given the way they play.
Azam and Rizwan have not been part of Pakistan’s T20I team lately as they missed the T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh, the T20I series against the West Indies, and the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan.
“Both Babar and Rizwan are excellent players, but cricket has evolved. They are not perfect for the kind of cricket needed to play in T20s today,” Arthur told Sports Room on ARY News as quoted by A Sports.
Pakistan are now featuring in the 2025 Asia Cup, but neither Azam nor Rizwan were included in the side.
The men in green defeated Oman and the UAE in the group stage, but also lost to India.
Despite that setback, they booked their spot in the Super Four, where India crushed them by six wickets.
However, Pakistan bounced back to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets, which kept their Asia Cup campaign alive.
Pakistan’s next Super Four match will be against Bangladesh on September 25 in Dubai.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
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