The Pakistan team management has entrusted their former skipper Babar Azam with opening the batting alongside Fakhar Zaman in the absence of the injured Saim Ayub, but his failure in three innings of the tri-series has invited criticism from former players. However, team’s interim head coach Aaqib Javed continues to back the decision.
“Our rationale behind the change was that if you look at the away series against South Africa, Babar Azam had to bat in the first over in all games. Then Saim got injured, and he had to open in Tests too. These pitches are not troubling the batters at the start, (so) we wanted our best batter to make good use of the powerplay, that suits us more,” Aaqib explained after the tri-series final on Sunday.
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Pakistan lost the final to New Zealand by five wickets, which was their second defeat in three matches of the tri-series — a warm-up event hosted by Pakistan ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. South Africa was the third team of the competition.
Babar scored just 62 runs in the tri-series, with his knocks reading 10, 23 and 29.
“I think, in these conditions, Babar should open and I am hopeful that he will play a big innings in important matches,” Aaqib added.
Pakistan will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against New Zealand on February 19.
“This team will do great in the Champions Trophy. If this team bats normally and down till number eight, you can score 350. If (fast bowler) Haris Rauf gets fit and gets in form with Naseem (Shah) and Shaheen (Shah Afridi) as well as our spinners, this lineup has everything it needs to defeat any team,” said Aaqib.
“We had to have a spin all-rounder and a pace all-rounder, that is why Khushdil (Shah) and Faheem (Ashraf) are in the team. There should be variety when you are playing tournaments,” he added.
