Babar Azam, the captain, led Pakistan to their second victory in the ongoing tri-nation series in New Zealand on Saturday. Azam scored an unbeaten 79 runs off 58 balls for his team.
Despite the quick 61-run partnership with vice-captain Shadab Khan with two wickets down, Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s previous captain, was not pleased with the middle order change and questioned the positions of Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab at 4 and 5, respectively.
Hafeez, alias Professor, claimed on Twitter that placing Shadab at number 4 and Nawaz at number 5 could lead to “short-term success,” but that doing so would put more strain and raise misgivings within Pakistan’s middle order.”What purpose do middle-order batters serve? Why are they on the team if there is no trust in them?” He added that the Green Shirts’ middle order will continue to be a problem.
It should be highlighted that Shadab came into the game at number 4 and scored 34 runs off 22 balls, driving a 61-run partnership with Babar. Shadab claimed that this performance provided insight into a strategy they may use at the World Cup, shifting the all-rounder up the order.
Nawaz, on the other hand, scored 19 runs off just 16 deliveries.
