Pakistan will enter the T20I World Cup 2022 in Australia as one of the firm favourites. They have been on a terrific run lately and have produced some remarkable performances, including the victory against India in the Asia Cup that led to the latter’s exit from the tournament. But at the same time, their batting unit also seems to be over dependent on the opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
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Babar and Rizwan are currently ruling the shortest format. While the wicketkeeper-batter is the No. 1 in the ICC T20I rankings, the Pakistan captain stands third on the list. Together they form an unbreachable wall for the opponents but when they fall early, the middle-order succumbs under pressure as well.
It’s a pattern that has been noted in past few games. In fact, same was the case which lead to Pakistan’s 9-wicket defeat against New Zealand on Tuesday in the ongoing tri-nation series. Babar (21) and Rizwan (16) were dismissed early while the men in green could manage only 130 runs in 20 overs, after losing 7 wickets. The middle order faltered again as the likes of Shan Masood (14), Shadab Khan (8), Iftikhar Ahmed (27) and Haider Ali (8) failed to leave an impact.
Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal lashed out at Pakistan’s middle order, highlighting Iftikhar’s run-a-ball innings. Ajmal said the batter took off like former India captain MS Dhoni but couldn’t finish the innings.
“Iftikhar plays like MS Dhoni but couldn’t end the innings like MS used to. (MS) used to take singles and hit sixes towards the end to compensate for them. Here, Iftikhar plays ten dot balls, Shan Masood plays 5-7 dot balls, and when they try to recover by hitting big shots, they get out.)," Ajmal was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“Iftikhar scored 27 runs off as many balls and he got out in the last over. Where do you stand," he questioned.
Pakistan will play the final of the tri-nation series against New Zealand on Friday before heading to Australia for the much-awaited T20 World Cup. They will open their campaign on October 23 against arch-rivals India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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