After the World Cup, Pakistan cricket has gone through a lot of changes. From changes in the cricket board to new captains for different formats, the cricket team faced a lot of issues. After a poor performance in the World Cup, Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy. Shan Masood took charge of red-ball captaincy and Shaheen Afridi was appointed to lead the team in the white ball format. Recently, Mohammad Hafeez talked about his struggle to convince Babar Azam to bat at number 3 in the T20 format.
Hafeez’s Words:
Mohammad Hafeez, former team director of Pakistan, shared that he advised Babar Azam to adjust his playing style according to the team’s needs in the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand. Hafeez emphasized the importance of adapting one’s role to contribute effectively to the team’s success. The guidance aimed to enhance Babar Azam’s strategic approach, ensuring he played a pivotal role aligned with the team’s requirements during the series.
Hafeez proposed a modification, suggesting Babar Azam bat at number three, a position where he excels in One-Day matches. He said, “It took me 2 months to convince Babar Azam to come down and bat at No.3 in T20is.”
Later he added, “Thank you very much to him that he accepted this and he played for Pakistan at number 3 which obviously I think is the best way to move.”
Babar Azam’s form Against New Zealand:
After losing the Test series against Australia by 3-0, Pakistan met New Zealand in a five-match T20 series. In the first match of the series, Babar Azam batted at number 3 and scored a half-century in a crucial time. He played a knock of 57 runs in 35 balls. Despite this, Pakistan lost the match. Babar was consistent in the series. In the second match, he scored another half-century and was dismissed on 66 runs in 43 balls.
After losing the previous matches consecutively, Pakistan faced the Kiwis in the third T20 match. In that match, Babar Azam registered his third consecutive half-century in this series. In the third match, he played a knock of 58 runs in 37 balls with 8 boundaries and 1 over-boundary.
After that, they lost the fourth match too. In the last match, Pakistan registered a win of 42 runs. In that match, Mohammad Rizwan scored 38 runs in 38 balls. Fakhar Zaman scored 33 runs. The Kiwis won the series by 4-1.
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