Former Pakistan Pacer Hints At Babar Azam's Slow Strike Rate With Sarcastic Example

Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed has come out and made a strong statement on Babar Azam and his strike rate in T20Is. Javed claimed that in big chases, having Babar and Mohammad Rizwan can be detrimental for Pakistan as they are similar players and they tend to let the required run-rate go too high. Javed, who is the Director of Cricket for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), also said that the team selection for the T20 World Cup is still "doubtful", especially raising questions about the batting composition.

"When you knew that the World Cup was happening, and even today, the selection is doubtful. Because they should have done this six or eight months back, that this is our squad of 20 players. And there's a reasoning for that," Javed told Sports Paktv.

"You have openers, no.3, middle order, lower middle order... you should know what your batting composition is."

"If someone gets out early, who can come and consolidate, build a little and then score quickly later on... I don't see anyone like that in the team," Javed said.

"And that has become the mindset that we have to keep these two openers. The two openers are effective, but where? For scores under 150-160. They are suitable for that," he claimed.

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"When we play against Karachi and we have a total of 180 or so, we have never tried too hard or wanted too badly to get Babar Azam out. Because he plays at his own pace and the required rate keeps increasing," Javed said.

"Rizwan is also similar. No doubt he played very well in the PSL, but when these two play together, then you have two performers of the same type."