Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has criticised the national team’s white-ball captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan for their batting approach in T20I cricket.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been a mainstay of Pakistan’s top order in the shorter format, however, they often criticised for their strike rates, especially in the powerplay
Rashid Latif, while talking on his YouTube channel, urged Babar and Rizwan to follow the examples of Indian captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli, who recently guided their team to the T20 World Cup glory.
“I would give examples of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to show how they changed themselves. Rohit has changed himself 190 degrees; change is possible because he has become a role model. His IPL strike rate used to be 130-140, but this year it went up to 160. He changed himself. Virat Kohli did the same thing. If these two batters can change, then anyone can,” stated Latif.
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The former captain suggested that Pakistan batters should be given a specific time period to change their batting approach, otherwise they should be dropped.
“I would give Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan 5 matches to change their batting approach in T20Is, and if they won’t, then there should be no place in the team for them,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team were knocked out from the group stage of the T20 World Cup, majorly because of their upset defeat against the USA, followed by a gut-wrenching defeat against arch-rivals India.
The back-to-back defeats had put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit from the tournament while the abandonment of the crucial group-stage fixture between the USA and Ireland officially marked the end of their campaign in T20 World Cup 2024.
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