ISLAMABAD: The relentless opening pair of captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan combined with some brutal pace bowling makes Pakistan a formidable team at the T20 World Cup.
Finalists in the first edition in 2007, champions in the next, and semifinalists three times since then makes Pakistan one of the favourites to go through to the knockout stage in Australia from a group which includes archrival India, South Africa, Bangladesh and the two qualifiers from the first round.
The jinx of not beating India in a World Cup game in any format ended last year when Babar and Rizwan led Pakistan to a massive 10-wicket win during the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Pakistan qualified for the semifinals after winning all five of its group games before eventually faltering against Australia.
STRENGTHS
Babar and Rizwan have scored loads of runs over the last year in T20 cricket, massively improving their strike rates in the recent seven-match home series against England.
Babar is only the sixth batter in the world to surpass 3,000 T20 International runs despite having a below-par Asia Cup in the UAE, where he only tallied 68 runs in six games. But he quickly returned to form against England with a century at Karachi and an unbeaten 87 at Lahore.
Rizwan was named ICC player of the month after scoring seven half-centuries in 10 T20s last month, including three in the Asia Cup and four against England at home. The pair occupy No. 1 and No. 3 spots in the world T20 rankings.
The recent elevation of both Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz in the batting order has provided Pakistan more depth in the middle order, especially when chasing a target.
“I am fortunate enough to have different options in every spot,” Babar told the Associated Press from New Zealand, where Pakistan warmed up for the World Cup with a five-wicket win over the hosts with three balls to spare in Friday’s final.
“Good to see Shadab and Nawaz showing their batting glimpses. I know them for so long and they are skilled enough to deliver. We have decided to use both of them up the order, according to the conditions and match situation.”
Nawaz blazed 38 from 22 balls, including three sixes, to get Pakistan home in the last over against New Zealand.
“Going to Australia, we have good confidence,” Babar said in his post-match interview.
The most likely return of Shaheen Shah Afridi from a knee injury will further strengthen the Pakistan pace department with the likes of Haris Rauf — who has experience playing in Australia’s T20 Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars — Naseem Shah, Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Hasnain all expected to challenge the opposition on bouncy pitches.
“Our bowling is consistently performing in this format, especially Haris Rauf is showing his character around the world,” Babar said.
The left-arm spin of Nawaz and legspin of Shadab has often choked the opposition in the middle overs, with Babar not afraid to use Nawaz in the batting powerplay.
WEAKNESSES
The dominance of Babar and Rizwan is so much that the opening pair mostly consume more than half of the balls in a T20 innings. This has left the middle-order batters with no other option but to accelerate quickly in the latter half of the innings.
Shan Masood has performed in patches at No. 3 since making his T20 debut at home against England last month, with Fakhar Zaman still recovering from a knee injury which has sidelined the left-hander since the Asia Cup.
Iftikhar Ahmed, Haider Ali and Asif Ali mostly haven’t lived up to their reputation of scoring at a brisk pace and Pakistan has been struggling to come close to 200 while batting first.
“Our firepower needs to step up and I have full confidence in them,” Babar said of his struggling middle-order batters.
HISTORICAL PERFORMANCES
Former fast bowler Umar Gul was the leading wicket-taker in the first two editions. The right-arm paceman took 13 wickets at an average of 11.92 in the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa that included a four-wicket haul against Scotland and another three wickets in the final which Pakistan lost to India.
Gul was again at his best in England when he claimed 13 wickets at an average of 12.15 during the 2009 T20 World Cup, which Pakistan won after beating Sri Lanka in the final at Lord’s. Gul’s career-best performance came in the same T20 World Cup when he picked up 5-6 against New Zealand at the Oval, which is still one of the most economical five-wicket hauls in this format.
Babar was the top run-getter in last year’s T20 World Cup with 303 runs in six games. He set the tone of Pakistan’s unbeaten run in the group stage with a brilliant half-century in the opening game against India and equalled the record of India’s Virat Kohli and Matthew Hayden to score four half-centuries in a single edition of the tournament.
SQUAD
Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Usman Qadir. Traveling reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.
