Former captain and director of Pakistan cricket team Mohammad Hafeez has advised star batter Babar Azam to play one-down in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Speaking at ARY News show “Sports Room”, the former allrounder reasoned his advice with the batting position of the Pakistan skipper in the ODI format where Azam plays at the Number 3 position.
According to him, Babar Azam would not find it hard to play one-down as he has been batting at that position for the last eight years.
“He would give better performance as he is Pakistan’s tactically and technically well-equipped batsman,” the former captain said.
Read more: Mohammad Hafeez recalls conversation with Babar Azam over batting position
For Hafeez, the Pakistan skipper can better absorb pressure after losing one of the opening batters and accelerate the inning at the same time.
On the pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Hafeez said that the two were giving brilliant performances in the T20I.
However, he said that the team management needs to develop five other batters around them to perform for the team, he added.
“The important thing was to pair Rizwan with a batter who can play with a better strike rate. Fakhar Zaman plays very well at the Number 4 position, so we did not have anyone to bat at the crucial one-down position,” Hafeez maintained.
Recalling his decision to demote Babar Azam to the third position from the opening spot, Hafeez said that the plan was to pair Mohammad Rizwan with Saim Ayub or any other batter with a high-scoring rate.
However, he said that the management will have to develop bench strength ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 after Ayub could not show performance in the opening position.
