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Ex-India cricketer drops bombshell, says Babar Azam should be replaced as Pakistan opener for T20 World Cup semi vs NZ
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has opined that the Pakistan skipper should move down one spot and bat at No.3 in the upcoming semi-final match against New Zealand.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam is looking a pale shadow of himself while opening the batting for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. The right-handed batter has managed just 39 runs in his five innings in the T20 World Cup so far. Also Pakistan's scoring rate in the powerplays have been affected due to Babar's form and it has put the 2009 champions on watery turf in some of the matches.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has opined that the Pakistan skipper should move down one spot and bat at No.3 in the upcoming semi-final match against New Zealand. Sharing his thoughts on Star Sports show 'Game Plan', Bangar further backed Mohammad Haris to open the innings in place of Babar.
“It's clearly been a rough time for the opening batsmen in this tournament because of the kind of conditions that have been on display and that's the reason why you haven't seen a lot of teams up top scoring a lot of runs. Even in the first 6 overs, the scores have been pretty average, a pretty conservative start. So, from that perspective, whether Pakistan continue with the same batting combination at the top of the order. So far, they've persisted, but now, having Mohammad Haris coming in there and playing with that sort of freedom. In the last game, they were a bit confused on whom to send and at that time, Harris was sent down the order because Nawaz was promoted up the order. So, in a game like this, I would say that it would be good if Pakistan makes that switch. Push Harris at the top with Rizwan. Babar Azam bats at three so that he can do a similar role which Williamson does for New Zealand,” said Bangar.
Bangar's opinion is also backed by the fact that Haris has hit 59 runs in just two innings at a strike rate of 203.44, which makes him a suitable candidate to open the innings and provide much needed firepower at the start alongside Mohammad Rizwan.
The former India cricketer further suggested Pakistan to use middle-order batter Shan Masood as a floater in the upcoming matches.
“Shan Masood can be the floater because you saw David Malan in England. He is the floater. He can bat if the wicket falls early up top. He can arrest the slide and then you have some very good players like Ifthikhar and Shadab, who can follow soon and that actually lengthens the batting line-up also a bit. So, if Pakistan are willing to make those changes, I clearly feel that they can optimize their resources really well,” explained Bangar
