LAHORE: Pakistan’s prolific wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has opened up on captain Babar Azam’s strike rate in Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, saying that Azam always scores with a strike rate of 140 plus.
Addressing a virtual press conference today (Tuesday), ahead of the three-match One-day International (ODI) series against England, Rizwan said, “We don’t think there is an issue with Babar Azam’s strike-rate. Whenever he scores, he does it at a strike-rate of 140 plus.”
“I will give you the example of when we chased 200 in South Africa, when me and Babar were opening, so I don’t think there is any such issue,” the wicket-keeper added.
However, Rizwan admitted that Pakistan needed improvement in the middle-order. He also claimed that Sohaib Maqsood can bat effectively below the top-order as well. “We have included some new faces and have worked on our problems in that department. Hopefully, this issue will be sorted out in the next series,” he added.
“Sohaib Maqsood has played and performed well at position five and six in the first half of PSL, in Karachi, and domestic cricket as well. We gave him a specific role in second half of PSL where he performed exceedingly well, I think he can adjust at any position,” he added.
Rizwan also brushed aside the notion that he was interested in leading the side in one of the formats. “I’m not thinking about leading the side as I’m focused on playing solely as a player. I give my suggestions whenever it’s needed,” he added.
“Also, if you look at Babar’s performance, he has done really well and we have won six series in row. Babar is on his way to becoming one of the best captains in world cricket,” he concluded.
