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"We will continue with my opening partnership with Mohammad Rizwan": Babar Azam

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MenInG

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Babar Azam in his presser:

"There is no such plan currently to experiment [with the opening pair]. We will continue with my opening partnership with Rizwan. After that, we will decide which player is suitable for what number in the batting-order. We will announce the playing XI [for first T20I] after practice tonight"

"The good thing about these youngsters is that they aren't worried about their batting positions. All they say is tell us the plan what is required for the betterment of the team"
 
InshAllah Pakistan lose

Can’t support this team
 
Rana said:
InshAllah Pakistan lose

Can’t support this team
Click to expand...

You should pull an Adnan Sami and apply for Indian citizenship.

I find it interesting that you hope the Pakistan team loses because a player doesn't play in the position you want them too. That's absolutely comical.
 
salman24 said:
You should pull an Adnan Sami and apply for Indian citizenship.

I find it interesting that you hope the Pakistan team loses because a player doesn't play in the position you want them too. That's absolutely comical.
Click to expand...

No two ways about it

You either play for the country or you don’t. This opening pair doesn’t. Sorry. This is not my team

I curse this team from the depth of my heart!
 
I would not wish for Pak to lose however, this is a pathetic statement to make from Baber without seeing Saim against Kiwis as an opener.
 
CricVet said:
I would not wish for Pak to lose however, this is a pathetic statement to make from Baber without seeing Saim against Kiwis as an opener.
Click to expand...

Na mate

Enough is enough with this guy Babar

I’m sure there are thousands who are feeling as aggrieved as I am at this statement
 
Expected. There was no other possibility.

Babar wants to boost his stats by opening and his buddy Rizwan is a failure in the middle-order.

Babar can easily bat at 3 and let Saim or Fakhar open but personal milestones are more important than the betterment of the team.

Pakistan has achieved nothing with Babar opening and piling up runs at a middling strike rate.

They have lost knockout matches in T20 World Cups and Asia Cups and lost important bilateral series.
 
Rana said:
Na mate

Enough is enough with this guy Babar

I’m sure there are thousands who are feeling as aggrieved as I am at this statement
Click to expand...

I totally understand your sentiments and I know that you are only wishing Pak to lose for Babar’s lack of understanding a few things. Time will be the judge. His arrogance will not fly for too long.
 
He said “This isn’t the time to experiment so me and Rizwan will open’


Like, WTH are you talking about???? Is the T20i World Cup next week???
 
Rana said:
He said “This isn’t the time to experiment so me and Rizwan will open’


Like, WTH are you talking about???? Is the T20i World Cup next week???
Click to expand...

May be he is talking about ODIs. Even so, it is too early to make up his mind. He should understand that he will best serve Pak as one or two down.
 
It is a shame that we aren't being given opportunities to see if a left/right combo and Babar dropping to 3 can be even more effective than what we have now.

Before when we had jokers in the middle order it made sense for the pair to open, but Saim Ayub has shown a lot of promise plus provides a different angle and approach as an opener.

All we would want to do is see how it works. We already know what RizBab can do.

However there seems to be a degree of selfishness from Babar that he refuses to relinquish the opening position that he appears to favour greatly for himself.
 
"continue with my partnership ...."

Cringeworthy from Babar.
 
So fakhar,Saim,Haris 2 out of the 3 will be batting out of position.
 
What a shame. All the openers will be playing in middle order. Rizwan and Babar should not forget that they too struggled initially at different positions before settling in as openers by playing at 120 and putting pressure on the middle order.
 
shamaan said:
I would have proberly picked Tahir in the squad
Click to expand...

I honestly don’t care who you would have picked

This isn’t my Pakistan

My Pakistan cricket team died the day this guy Babar was made the captain of the side!
 
Selfish to the core. He and his buddy want to fill their boots against a NZ B team, that's the real reason.
 
I am surprised anyone else expected thse 2 stat padders to miss out on feasting against a NZ C team.
 
Saim and Haris were never opening. They did decent in PSL but not great and benefitted from easier pitches in the latter part. And then a poor Afghanistan tour.

Disappointed we aren’t giving a chance to Fakhar again. I know he failed in the past, but he was the best opener in PSL, scored consistently throughout at a great SR. Was better than Rizwan and Babar (Saim and Haris weren’t). With the ODI World Cup coming along, and Babar a bit off form opening, I think fakhar should have got another try again. In recent PSLs fakhar has looked very good even though he is opening anymore for international t20.

Fakhar should have opened against Afghanistan. Saim and Haris aren’t ready hence found it tough, but I reckon fakhar would have scored against Afghanistan. I don’t know why he was rested, was the perfect time to test him.
 
Excellent! We should be back to our winning ways. If we lose due to experimenting these same critics who are for experimentation will be calling for Babar's head. No need for such outside noise, it's a world cup year
 
ads101 said:
Saim and Haris were never opening. They did decent in PSL but not great and benefitted from easier pitches in the latter part. And then a poor Afghanistan tour.

Disappointed we aren’t giving a chance to Fakhar again. I know he failed in the past, but he was the best opener in PSL, scored consistently throughout at a great SR. Was better than Rizwan and Babar (Saim and Haris weren’t). With the ODI World Cup coming along, and Babar a bit off form opening, I think fakhar should have got another try again. In recent PSLs fakhar has looked very good even though he is opening anymore for international t20.

Fakhar should have opened against Afghanistan. Saim and Haris aren’t ready hence found it tough, but I reckon fakhar would have scored against Afghanistan. I don’t know why he was rested, was the perfect time to test him.
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Baffles me why Fakhar is not being given the chance to open . SR of 160 and hit the most sixers in the Psl and previous season he was the top scorer .

The Afghan series was a good opportunity as is this series .
 
T20 World Cup is about 14 months away, now is the time to experiment, and rotate players who were selected and Merit, and test your bunch strenght, we do not even need a full sqaud for the t20 series. (ODI is a different story since world cup is in 5 months)

Both Babar and Rizwan do not need to open, ideally one of them should come down at 3, it could be Rizwan even, but try a new pair of openers, I would even like Babar and Rizwan to drop down to 3 and 4, just to give it a try see what happens when you have 2 different openers, the results for this T20 series is not important, but the preparation for the T20 WORLD CUP is.

Test other openers to see what they can do, in the event they failed again and again, than we can say Babar and Rizwan should open together but you do not know if you dont try. Babar and Rizwan should both be in the team, but that does not mean they should both open.
 
This is a mistake.

Not saying we should be putting out the C team again every game, but Pakistan play the most meaningless bilateral T20s of any nation. And they are more meaningless now than ever with the T20 WC far away.

Why not switch a couple of positions in the order to see if better solutions can be found? Seriously what could be the harm in that?

Just because something has been statistically successful in the past doesn't mean we should give up trying to improve it.
 
As someone said above

Stat padding against new zealand C

If you still support babar after this selfishness shame on you

And I bet you babar and rizwan are not going to play any faster vs this C Team
 
Third class statement from Babar. Slowly i am turning against him. If he cared about building up the squad and exploring better strategy. He would come down in the order for this series against the C team of Nzland. If he was truly sincere he could have skipped the t20 part of the tour altogether but ofc how can we lose the awesome opportunity to stat pad and making sure theres no alternate more quicker option than you.
 
Good decision. Saw the Afg series where the players lost to a poor afghan side.

Opening pair is not the issue.
 
Rana said:
Oh yeah that’s why he won the PSL twice in a row as an opener?!
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Bhai this is international cricket. Have a look at his output as a T20i opener. Significantly worse than Rizwan. Fakhar is a fraud opener in T20is. People just think he's aggressive because he swishes at a few balls before getting out.

Essentially you want to replace a guy who averages 50 and strikes at 129 with a guy who averages 22 and strikes at 134.
 
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Babar Azam's 100th T20I today

trw83VQ.png
 
Mamoon said:
Expected. There was no other possibility.

Babar wants to boost his stats by opening and his buddy Rizwan is a failure in the middle-order.

Babar can easily bat at 3 and let Saim or Fakhar open but personal milestones are more important than the betterment of the team.

Pakistan has achieved nothing with Babar opening and piling up runs at a middling strike rate.

They have lost knockout matches in T20 World Cups and Asia Cups and lost important bilateral series.
Click to expand...

I still remember people were criticizing inzamam post 2003 WC to bat in top 4 positions but he never did and was comfortable.
People will not get satisfied whatever babar do. He is our best batsmen in the lineup so he should bat at the top. The only issue is rizwan, he should be replaced by saim or harris.
 
Babar is such a poor captain. He’s already lost us a few tournaments with stubborn team selections. Now he’s too afraid to break a successful opening partnership even though it may help team in the long run. The team needs his experience in middle order but he clearly lacks imagination and decision making ability or may be he’s just selfish
 
Not a great start to the series for both of them:

8 and 9 runs respectively.
 
Good Decision The openers have been fine

The middle order is clearly the problem as we have seen again today

If saim can make the number 4 spot thats one issue sorted

Next is number 5 and 6
 
Ideal opportunity really for both to score big against this NZ side who look terribly weak.
 
Imagine not being good enough to be signed up in the IPL yet destroying the world’s number 2 and 3 batsmen in their home decks

Well done Henry and Milne!
 
bilawal666 said:
Rizwan looked incredibly ordinary today and so did Babar.
Click to expand...

Don't think they are totally to blame, the ball was hooping around at some hefty clicks until the 4th over or so. It wasn't easy to bat on if the bowlers got their lengths right, which Milne and Henry mostly did.

This is where a left/right opening combination could have nullified the movement and not allowed the bowlers to settle into their lines.

I don't really think we need to see more RizBab in this series. Saim needs a rope at the top, preferably with Rizwan and Babar learning to adjust to the number 3 role.
 
Honestly you dont need to be Einstein to figure out that Pakistan’s top 5 needs to be:
1. Saim Ayub
2. Mohammad Rizwan
3. Babar Azam
4. Mohammad Haris
5. Fakhar Zaman
 
gazza619 said:
Honestly you dont need to be Einstein to figure out that Pakistan’s top 5 needs to be:
1. Saim Ayub
2. Mohammad Rizwan
3. Babar Azam
4. Mohammad Haris
5. Fakhar Zaman
Click to expand...

I just think Haris just needs 2-3 seasons in domestics before we throw him in there.

Iftikhar's bowling is handy and he comes off with the bat sometimes. I'd probably be picking him in 2023 and let Haris cook until next year.

The rest i agree with, including with the batting order.
 
hitthestump said:
I just think Haris just needs 2-3 seasons in domestics before we throw him in there.

Iftikhar's bowling is handy and he comes off with the bat sometimes. I'd probably be picking him in 2023 and let Haris cook until next year.

The rest i agree with, including with the batting order.
Click to expand...

I think we need to take a chance for the ODI WC this year.

We havent won an ODI WC since 1992 simply because we always went with full on experience in World Cups!!!

Haris & Saim need to be on the plane for the ODI WC.
 
He means “I”.

Literally no one in Pakistan except for a few fans want that. Doubt even the players in the team want this. If you weren’t captain, nobody would be opening with you both. You’d be at 3 and Rizwan would either open or be in the middle order, assuming he’d be in the team.. Defo not together.
 
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Happy with the openers.

RizBabar have won us far too many games.

Not gonna let a couple of failures change my mind.
 
zarak said:
Bhai this is international cricket. Have a look at his output as a T20i opener. Significantly worse than Rizwan. Fakhar is a fraud opener in T20is. People just think he's aggressive because he swishes at a few balls before getting out.

Essentially you want to replace a guy who averages 50 and strikes at 129 with a guy who averages 22 and strikes at 134.
Click to expand...

Calling Fakhar a Fraud is a very bizarre statement . When he was playing well he had a SR of 140. The slump in form came around 2019 and he has never opened for Pakistan since .

In that period he has topped the Psl scoring charts and his SR has been a 150-160 plus in the PSL.

His career SR is 135 and his PSL SR is 140. No doubt the career SR is affected by him batting at no 3 which is not his natural position.

Both Babar and Rizwan SR is 127.

He’s had to adjust to bat at no3 which is not his natural batting position.

One of babar and Rizwan should be making way at the top for Fakhar.

He is capable of 25@140 which is what we need . He for sure plays for the team.
 
Ramiz Raja on this topic:

"Babar Azam needs to play an anchor role if the pitches remain the same. This is not his batting approach to just step out and hit it out of the park. He does take time to settle but he covers up for that later. Similarly, Rizwan's footwork could've been better but most importantly his balance should maintain if ball starts to seam. They don't need to rush"

"They are capable of making extensive partnerships which benefits Pakistan at the end of the day. They create a strong base for others to propel afterwards them. So don't forget basics, no need to play in haste. They both have class, they both have ample time. Good thing is Pakistan is off to a winning start, so congratulations Babar and co"
 
"Babar Azam needs to play an anchor role if the pitches remain the same. This is not his batting approach to just step out and hit it out of the park. He does take time to settle but he covers up for that later. Similarly, Rizwan's footwork could've been better but most importantly his balance should maintain if ball starts to seam. They don't need to rush"

Yes Rameez, we are playing against New Zealand’s main team and playing 60 over cricket of the 70s
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan partnership in T20Is:<br><br>Innings 54<br>Runs 2651<br>Average 50.98<br>Hundred partnerships 9<br>Fifty partnerships 10<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvNZ</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1647281778581700614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Haan bhai hogai tasali?

Where is everyone that were celebrating last night?

Thank god these two are opening for pakistan
 
100 for one opener and 50 for other opener.

But noo, they shouldnt be playing because they dont take risky aerial shots and play on ground
 
A Babar and Riz special today

The crowd have been royally entertained!
 
Black day for Pakistan.

Rizwan and Babar avoiding the difficult series in UAE vs Afghanistan where the youngsters were thrown in the deep end, and they comeback to play against a weak NZ team in their own backyard.

Mohammad Haris won’t get a game unless we lose, the same guy that outperformed Babar and Rizwan in the last WT20.

RizBar fans getting way too excited, were they expecting them to struggle against a NZ C team?
 
YousafTheBeast said:
Black day for Pakistan.

Rizwan and Babar avoiding the difficult series in UAE vs Afghanistan where the youngsters were thrown in the deep end, and they comeback to play against a weak NZ team in their own backyard.

Mohammad Haris won’t get a game unless we lose, the same guy that outperformed Babar and Rizwan in the last WT20.

RizBar fans getting way too excited, were they expecting them to struggle against a NZ C team?
Click to expand...


I think they wanted to play against Afg but PCB rested them to try out bench strength
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan partnership in T20Is:<br><br>Innings 54<br>Runs 2651<br>Average 50.98<br>Hundred partnerships 9<br>Fifty partnerships 10<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvNZ</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1647281778581700614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
YousafTheBeast said:
Black day for Pakistan.

Rizwan and Babar avoiding the difficult series in UAE vs Afghanistan where the youngsters were thrown in the deep end, and they comeback to play against a weak NZ team in their own backyard.

Mohammad Haris won’t get a game unless we lose, the same guy that outperformed Babar and Rizwan in the last WT20.

RizBar fans getting way too excited, were they expecting them to struggle against a NZ C team?
Click to expand...

A true pakistan supporter wouldnt call a successful innings by a pakistani a black day for pakistan

Some posters hate for players has clouded their brain the fact that at the end of the day whoever steps over into the ground should be wished well because successful players equals success for pakistan And thats all that matters

Those that wish for players to fail are wishing for pakistan to fail
 
Most useless runs

They serve no purpose in our advancement as a nation
 
Some kids are so busy crying that they would rather see Pakistan losing than Babar scoring a hundred and winning the game for the nation.

Unreal hate. Unreal mental unstability.😂
 
Riz-Babar showed today why they are so necessary at the top for pakistan

Most of the other batters are just too unreliable
 
Zaz said:
Riz-Babar showed today why they are so necessary at the top for pakistan

Most of the other batters are just too unreliable
Click to expand...

Would be nice if they show it vs A teams, asia cup and world cup
 
emranabbas said:
Would be nice if they show it vs A teams, asia cup and world cup
Click to expand...

Na mate

They put in the work in these pointless games to secure their positions for those tournaments

Only to go missing when the real bowlers turn up
 
daytrader said:
I think they wanted to play against Afg but PCB rested them to try out bench strength
Click to expand...

If that’s true (which I don’t think is) then PCB messed up big time.

Zaz said:
A true pakistan supporter wouldnt call a successful innings by a pakistani a black day for pakistan

Some posters hate for players has clouded their brain the fact that at the end of the day whoever steps over into the ground should be wished well because successful players equals success for pakistan And thats all that matters

Those that wish for players to fail are wishing for pakistan to fail
Click to expand...

A true Pakistani supporter would want to see youngsters like Mohammad Haris and Saim Ayub play in a meaningless T20 series to help kickstart their international careers.

I want to see my team build for the future. You want to see your team play a full strength team against NZ B team.

Their innings today may have brought success today but it’ll bring more failures in the future.
 
Waleed93 said:
Some kids are so busy crying that they would rather see Pakistan losing than Babar scoring a hundred and winning the game for the nation.

Unreal hate. Unreal mental unstability.😂
Click to expand...

It's better to keep winning tbh. Just creates that winning mentality, and is much better to develop youngsters careers if they are in a side which wins.

People were rejoicing for the experimental sides against Afghanistan. But what did we learn from it? Nothing. The only thing that resulted in Afghanistan series that Haris has sadly lost his place because of it.
 
ads101 said:
People were rejoicing for the experimental sides against Afghanistan. But what did we learn from it? Nothing.
Click to expand...

I think we learned quite a lot from those 3 games actually.

Batting:
- This side needs Babar and Rizwan at the top (not that most people didn't know already but some questioned this)
- Haris and Saim are to be persisted with, but are still raw
- Azam and Tayyab are not to be selected

Bowling:
- Ihsanullah has genuine potential
- Imad Wasim should be back in the team
- We need to develop another white ball leggie alongside Shadab
 
hitthestump said:
I think we learned quite a lot from those 3 games actually.

Batting:
- This side needs Babar and Rizwan at the top (not that most people didn't know already but some questioned this)
- Haris and Saim are to be persisted with, but are still raw
- Azam and Tayyab are not to be selected

Bowling:
- Ihsanullah has genuine potential
- Imad Wasim should be back in the team
- We need to develop another white ball leggie alongside Shadab
Click to expand...

I think the only thing we have learned is Babar and Rizwan are as poor as the openers Pakistan tries when real, first team players play

We understood that during the World Cup
 
Batted well today against a depleted NZ team however if they can't deliver against first string attacks (let alone in tournaments) then you have to say it's an absolute waste when the opportunity for squad experimentation has been missed.
 
We saw what happened with the experimentation against afghanistan and how successful that was
 
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We also saw Babar how he fared against Afg at the same venue where rookies failed. There is nothing to brag for anyone. Some just can’t come out of the rut of beating a dead horse.
 
CricVet said:
We also saw Babar how he fared against Afg at the same venue where rookies failed. There is nothing to brag for anyone. Some just can’t come out of the rut of beating a dead horse.
Click to expand...

Yep scored 9 off 9 balls against Hong Kong and Afghanistan at Sharjah in the Asia Cup last year including a golden duck against the latter.
 
CricVet said:
We also saw Babar how he fared against Afg at the same venue where rookies failed. There is nothing to brag for anyone. Some just can’t come out of the rut of beating a dead horse.
Click to expand...

There are many horses being beaten to death on this topic, but at the end of the day it is only the facts that matter.

And the fact is that Babar and Rizwan are Pakistan's t20 openers.

It is also fact that they are the most successful opening pair in Pakistan's t20 history.
 
This is chest beating time for the babar riz fanzone - seems like once every 6 months on a flat pitch is enough for the ecstasy.

Enjoy the moment but please don’t flog it for the next 6 months and look at reality
 
hitthestump said:
There are many horses being beaten to death on this topic, but at the end of the day it is only the facts that matter.

And the fact is that Babar and Rizwan are Pakistan's t20 openers.

It is also fact that they are the most successful opening pair in Pakistan's t20 history.
Click to expand...

There is always a room for improvement. What worked in the past may not necessarily work in the future. International bowlers are clever. Pak will not be able to afford losing Babar early in crucial games when new ball is moving around. When there are better options available to open, utilize them. I am done arguing this point to being redundant.
 
The new Strategy for RizBar

-Take 15-18 balls of the powerplay to get your eye in

-both players slow down, take 8-10 balls in the 40s to ensure you get to 50


*You’ve probably lost 5-6 overs out of 20 so that these two can get there personal scores
 
As another poster said, these two have won us too many games.

A few failures here and there are not changing anything.

As Latham said after the match, "When Babar plays like this, you just tip your hat off."
 
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The reality is that these 2 are the best options as openers at the moment in T20s.

That may change in future, but at the moment they need to continue opening.
 
Saj said:
The reality is that these 2 are the best options as openers at the moment in T20s.

That may change in future, but at the moment they need to continue opening.
Click to expand...

I don’t think that’s a reality. I think it’s an option. They need to give someone else a go against B and C teams like the current NZ team.

They had a poor initial game and a nice stat padding one.

Time for one of them to move down the order.

Wouldn’t it be great for a new opening combo to know they have the luxury of having the great Babar to come after them to hold things together if they get out.

That really will take the pressure off at the top for the newbies.

But this requires leadership and strength of character - “Guys go up top and go for it. Don’t worry I’m here - and I’ll handle it if you get out.” That’s the type of leadership we need from babar.

Instead we get a dheela “definitely, bilkul, play on merit, anchor, bilkul, definitely” rubbish
 
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