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It's time that Pakistan rethink the strategy of opening with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in T20Is

Last year, I passionately argued (primarily with @fight_club) that Pakistan should maintain the Rizwan-Babar opening combo. But now after seeing them bat together for a year, I have no issues admitting that I was wrong and that Pakistan needs to bring Fakhar to the top and one of these two down to No.3.

The problem is not the numbers of runs that these two score...which is alot. The problem is that they are far too similar as batters. And while that works in our favor in run-chases where are able to time a chase to perfection, there have been numerous occasions while batting first when Babar and/or Rizwan have left alot of runs in the middle. The biggest example being the World Cup semi-final against Australia where we lost NOT because of Hasan Ali's dropped catch, but because of the fact that we were a good 15-20 runs short and that Babar didn't accelerate in the powerplay the way he should have.

The numbers have shown that the middle-order is not the problem. Despite all the constant chopping and changing, Pakistan's batting from No.4 or No.8 boasts a combined strike-rate of 152.8 since the last World Cup...the highest in the world. So calling them headless chickens or what not won't change that very basic fact.

The problem is the Babar-Rizwan combo, which needs to be separated because it could end up being a far bigger detriment for us in the long-rub than it is a positive.
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You have earned my respect, it take balls to accept that in public.

So allow me to bust this myth of "Fakhar plays quickly" as well even if he gets out early. Fans have this delusion that if Fakhar gets out early, he is scoring a 20 off 9 balls or a 32 off 16 balls. No he is not.

In those 24 innings out of 36 where he got out playing less than 20 balls, Fakhar's SR is a paltry 117. So out of every 3 innings, he is getting out 2 times facing less than 20 balls at a SR of 117.

Excellent going, right!!!
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Lot of posters are clearly missing a bigger point here, If babar goes down early it suck the entire momentum and confidence out of Pakistan inning and they look unsure regarding how to approach the inning.

When you have a fragile and uncertain middle order like pakistan there is always a fear of collapse.
Fakhar is an impact player, his SR initially is similar to how Rizwan and babar play PP however pakistan
can afford to give him license to whack it. His dismissal or for that matter any other opener getting out cheaply will never send the kind of shockwaves Babar dismissal will cause.
 
Another not so successful start for Pakistan.
 
India has one stat padder opening
Pak has two
These guys will score 45 from 40 and keep their avg and rankings and once in a while will play a quick innings sending their fanz into a frenzy
 
Babar who usually consistently scores runs has gone out without scoring many in two consecutive matches. I blame that on Rizwan. They should drop him.
 
Need another mythbusting Fakhar Zaman post from [MENTION=141811]shariqnoor[/MENTION] to tell me how Fakhar can't bat quick lol.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Need another mythbusting Fakhar Zaman post from [MENTION=141811]shariqnoor[/MENTION] to tell me how Fakhar can't bat quick lol.
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You are trying too hard without even having reality on your side. Even in this match, Rizwan ends up with a higher SR than Fakhar.

Babar gets out early in the Powerplay and Fakhar ends up with a SR of a colossal 95 by the end of the 10th over against the mighty Hong Kong. But yes we need to accept your version that Fakhar scores a 20 off 9 and a 32 off 16 if he plays in the powerplay. Sorry, but that only happens in your dream.
 
medieval approach of batting. They both look to score at 7-8 runs per over no matter the conditions and leave big hitting for players to come nextf. The big drawback is they both bat at Powerplay overs when the field is in and players can take a bit of risk. This is big disadvantage for Pakistan as both of these players are not big hittters and rely purely on timing and they also needs time to settle in which takes quite a few deliveries. Baber should defintely be batting some power hitter with Rizwan as a backup to come next if early wicket falls in.
 
Every outing in the middle by this opening pair makes it amply clear that they simply do not enjoy Power Play. You don't really want these two guys to take undue risk and that's not their game the cost is criminal waste of PP and allow bowling unit comfort of settling down.

Both batsmen have better strike rate after PP where they are so comfortable nudging the ball in the gaps running hard punishing loose deliveries and Rizwan has best game against Spin. Just mind boggling that they are so stub born not to give up the opening slot
 
shariqnoor said:
You are trying too hard without even having reality on your side. Even in this match, Rizwan ends up with a higher SR than Fakhar.

Babar gets out early in the Powerplay and Fakhar ends up with a SR of a colossal 95 by the end of the 10th over against the mighty Hong Kong. But yes we need to accept your version that Fakhar scores a 20 off 9 and a 32 off 16 if he plays in the powerplay. Sorry, but that only happens in your dream.
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What was Rizzy SR in PP?? what is even doing there opening the batting let him come at no.3 or 4 play till the last bowl get the best strike rate. There is a reason we have PP in first 6 overs for god sake
 
Forget the numbers

These guys don’t even try to hit the ball over the inner circle. This is disrespectful to T20 cricket.
 
Pretty sure I saw a stat that since last couple of years, Riz S/R between overs 16 to 20 is 178 so that's really good... Today he wasn't 100% fit which is understandable as it was hot and humid out there and he was there till the end...
 
NeVerMind said:
Pretty sure I saw a stat that since last couple of years, Riz S/R between overs 16 to 20 is 178 so that's really good... Today he wasn't 100% fit which is understandable as it was hot and humid out there and he was there till the end...
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What did Wasim Akram say or you don’t pay attention to things that don’t suit your agenda?

If he is tired, GET OUT! You have 7-8 wickets in hand. Let the others come in and try their hand!

I’m so proud of Wasim today to speak the truth after the game and say it is unacceptable to come back 60-70* when opening the batting.
 
Rana said:
What did Wasim Akram say or you don’t pay attention to things that don’t suit your agenda?

If he is tired, GET OUT! You have 7-8 wickets in hand. Let the others come in and try their hand!

I’m so proud of Wasim today to speak the truth after the game and say it is unacceptable to come back 60-70* when opening the batting.
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I don't have any agenda against any player and you can see that from my many posts...Fact of the matter is that if both Babar and Riz fail, we will not cross 150...I think we even lost a T20 against Zimbabwe when that happened...Riz was trying to hit out towards the end and 9 out of 10 times he will be successful as shown by his strike rate in overs 16 to 20 in the last two years. ..stats don't lie...
 
Also Kohli was in the same position against HK in their last match and he finished not out with a lower score and less strike rate than Riz...
 
fight_club said:
Every outing in the middle by this opening pair makes it amply clear that they simply do not enjoy Power Play. You don't really want these two guys to take undue risk and that's not their game the cost is criminal waste of PP and allow bowling unit comfort of settling down.

Both batsmen have better strike rate after PP where they are so comfortable nudging the ball in the gaps running hard punishing loose deliveries and Rizwan has best game against Spin. Just mind boggling that they are so stub born not to give up the opening slot
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They are able to up the ante after powerplay bcoz they get set after playing 5 or 6 overs, if you send them in the middle overs, they will take yet another 4 or 5 overs to get a move on.
 
NeVerMind said:
Also Kohli was in the same position against HK in their last match and he finished not out with a lower score and less strike rate than Riz...
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Rizwan batted on a tougher pitch with no pace and low bounce
 
shariqnoor said:
You are trying too hard without even having reality on your side. Even in this match, Rizwan ends up with a higher SR than Fakhar.

Babar gets out early in the Powerplay and Fakhar ends up with a SR of a colossal 95 by the end of the 10th over against the mighty Hong Kong. But yes we need to accept your version that Fakhar scores a 20 off 9 and a 32 off 16 if he plays in the powerplay. Sorry, but that only happens in your dream.
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That was a rare feat for Fakhar in T20s. On a better pitch that will never be the case where he is scoring at such a low SR.
 
Just so people understand Rizwan's importance:

C0Ai656.png
 
The day One of Babar or Rizwan fail to score, that's when the "fans" will realize the importance of Rizwan
 
CricketingMinds said:
The day One of Babar or Rizwan fail to score, that's when the "fans" will realize the importance of Rizwan
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Yeah just like the fans were crying when Misbah retired and no one was there to save us from 20-3 situations?
 
Rana said:
Yeah just like the fans were crying when Misbah retired and no one was there to save us from 20-3 situations?
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Seems like you wake up in the middle of night as well to vent your vendetta against Rizwan. Relax bro. Whether you like it or not, Rizwan is the best option available right now in all formats.
 
Wasim Akram wasn't happy with Rizwans knock. He stated if you are batting the full 20 overs and if you have plenty of hitters to come lower down the order, then either get out trying to up the scoring rate but play for the team instead of your personal stats to the detriment of the team or increase your strike rate to 200 by the end of your innings.

He has a valid point.
 
No changes are expected but could throwing in Fakhar as opener mess up Indian planning?
 
Savak said:
Wasim Akram wasn't happy with Rizwans knock. He stated if you are batting the full 20 overs and if you have plenty of hitters to come lower down the order, then either get out trying to up the scoring rate but play for the team instead of your personal stats to the detriment of the team or increase your strike rate to 200 by the end of your innings.

He has a valid point.
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Wasim is being deluded as usual with his analysis. Rarely anyone who plays 20 overs ends up with a SR of 200. Majority end up with SR of 170s even on belters. And if he thinks ending up with 80 with a SR of close to 140 isn't great on THAT sharjah pitch, then he really is getting delusional.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Have one observation on Pakistan’s T20 cricket.They are laying too deep a foundation. For a 20 over innings, it’s unnecessary. What’s more it will give more opportunity to no 4,5,6 thereby making Pakistan a more wholesome batting unit, a better T20 side.</p>— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) <a href="https://twitter.com/sanjaymanjrekar/status/1565946568183783424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
They are able to up the ante after powerplay bcoz they get set after playing 5 or 6 overs, if you send them in the middle overs, they will take yet another 4 or 5 overs to get a move on.]
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Actually no, They are not powerhitters and with field restrictions easy singles are not available. You will both of them feeling comfortable after PP as it becomes easy to rotate the strike.

Have one observation on Pakistan’s T20 cricket.They are laying too deep a foundation. For a 20 over innings, it’s unnecessary. What’s more it will give more opportunity to no 4,5,6 thereby making Pakistan a more wholesome batting unit, a better T20 side.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 3, 2022
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Many commentators and experts are stating the obvious fact that these two gentlemen simply waste PP
there was an astonishing fact mentioned on espncricinfo that Pakistan takes roughly 45 deliveries to hit first 6 of the inning. That's a staggering average while India have 20 deliveries and Indian team were slow starters.

I repeat both Babar and Rizwan has best game for no.3 and 4. Babar can open as he has all the shots and the best player of pace. Rizwan is have a SR of 55 % in the initial overs in this tournament. let him come at no.3 play till the end overs.

These two gentlemens have played a staggering 70 % delivery togther on an average while other batsmen just show up auditions.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pakistan's slow progress at the Asia Cup in the first 6 overs:<br><br>44/1 versus India<br>40/1 versus Hong Kong<br>43/2 versus India<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AsiaCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AsiaCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1566463217802559493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
It's about both mindset and ability. There has to be change in opening combination. we were 19 runs off first 3 overs despite chasing 180. There's no way you can chase big totals with this mindset.
 
Fakhar is an absolute rubbish starter. He wastes power play even in ODIs. Probably also why he’s not a great T20 player. He has to scratch around and once he’s played himself in he can accelerate in a way the rest can’t. He won’t and hasn’t produced that blustering start as an opener in t20s so there’s no sense dropping down Rizwan who’s been so successful for him. I think it’s the same argument that people blame imam on putting pressure on fakhar in odis. Just isn’t true the guy puts the pressure on himself. Against good bowling fakhar seriously struggles to bat a good strike rate early on. Also the reason why babar and Rizwan are successful they know how to take singles early on when they are playing themselves in.
 
Wasim Akram "one opener has to be the aggressor and one can play the anchor role but that's not happening with Pakistan"
 
So, Exactly 22 days before the "Big match" Pakistan are as clueless as they were before england series, about there middle order. They have even tried a Test opener at no.3 with no avail
 
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