Former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam isn’t happy at his new No.3 position in the batting order in the national side but admitted he did it for the sake of the team in the shortest format of the game.
Babar, who is currently playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL), expressed his dissatisfaction after his team eked out a narrow four-run win over Multan Sultans. Babar’s major success in T20Is came as an opener. In 77 games, Babar scored more than 2500 runs which included three centuries.
“I don’t feel or take any pressure whenever I open the innings (in T20Is). The team was demanding me to come down to No. three and I did it for the team. If asked from a personal perspective, I was not satisfied with the move but I did it for Pakistan,” said Babar.
In fact, at no.3, Babar has played 24 games so far, accumulating 903 runs at a strike rate of 127.54. The formidable right-hander had formed a successful opening pair with Mohammad Rizwan at the top over the years. Even after dropping to No.3, the Babar-Rizwan still tops the chart for most runs as openers in T20Is with 2883 runs in 61 innings. Young Saim Ayub has replaced Babar at the top.
Opening the innings for Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing PSL, Babar has so far been the highest run-getter in the tournament. In nine games so far, the right-hander has so far scored 498 runs at a strike rate of 148.65. He has also recorded five fifties and a hundred so far in PSL 2024.
Earlier in November last year, Pakistan failed to make it to the semifinals of the ODI World Cup in India under the leadership of Babar. Pakistan finished fifth, thereby missing on a last four spot narrowly. He himself also didn’t had a good tournament, recording just a couple of fifties.
With the T20 World Cup fast approaching, it will be interesting to see whether Pakistan Cricket Board decides to continue with Babar at No.3 or not. After his move to one-down, Babar scored three consecutive half-centuries against Pakistan against New Zealand. Unfortunately, Pakistan lost in all three games and eventually losing the series 1-4.