Shoaib Malik: “Are these players playing attacking cricket? Why did you remove Babar and Rizwan then? At least they were scoring lots of runs. Why did you ask them to improve their strike-rate if these players are playing with the same strike-rate?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik has questioned why Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were dropped from the T20I team when the batsmen called up to replace them are scoring at similar strike-rates.
Azam and Rizwan used to be the go-to openers in T20Is, but both of them came under fire for not scoring fast enough.
However, Malik noted that the current batch of cricketers in the team are not playing an aggressive brand of cricket and thus feels that the men in green would be better off with Azam and Rizwan as they regularly scored runs.
“Are these players playing attacking cricket? Why did you remove Babar and Rizwan then? At least they were scoring lots of runs. Why did you ask them to improve their strike-rate if these players are playing with the same strike-rate?” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam and Rizwan were not picked for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the tour of Bangladesh, the T20I series against the West Indies, the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, and the 2025 Asia Cup.
Both of them recently played in the two-Test series against South Africa, with Azam amassing 131 runs, which included a top score of 50, at an average of 32.75.
Rizwan, meanwhile, made 126 runs, which included a top score of 75, at an average of 31.50.
Pakistan and South Africa will now play three T20Is and three ODIs. It should be noted that Azam was recalled to the T20I side, but Rizwan continued to be left out.
Afterwards, Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series from November 11 to 15.
This will be followed by a T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from November 17 to 29.
Pakistan squad for South Africa T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan squad for South Africa ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem