The results that Pakistan has obtained in every format have been greatly influenced by Babar Azam‘s form. He has certainly played a key role in the national setup throughout the years in the 50-over format. He has established himself as a reliable regular in the team and has gradually taken control of the No. 3 spot. The ace batter opening the batting in ODIs for the third time, however, was in the just finished Tri Nation Series match against New Zealand.
Former Pakistani batsman-wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal recently shared his thoughts on the team’s management’s choice to put Babar in the starting lineup.
You’re opening Babar up. The team combination and Babar’s confidence are destroyed by this decision,” Kamran said in a video that was uploaded to his official YouTube page.
It was clear that he was inexperienced throughout his 10-run knock off 23 balls. In an attempt to get off to a strong start and chase down the 331-run mark, his opening partner Fakhar Zaman was pretty effective in getting off the blocks quickly. However, Babar appeared to be in a very bad mood. Had Babar not chipped a pretty harmless Michael Bracewell delivery to square leg off the last delivery of the tenth over, Pakistan’s powerplay would have started perfectly.
In the past, back in November 2015, during the four-match ODI series against England, Babar opened the batting before the tri-series series opener. His scores were 22 and 4, respectively.
In the Pakistan-New Zealand match, the home team lost by a score of 78 runs. At the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the Men in Green were skittled out for 252 in 47.5 overs, only Fakhar was able to score more than 40 runs.
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