Pakistan cricket team’s interim head coach, Azhar Mehmood, answered a question from ProSports correspondent, Behram Qazi, in the press conference after the conclusion of the third T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand where he explained the team’s decision to send a particular batter whenever a wicket fell.
‘The top-three numbers are fixed but the others are adaptable,’ as Azhar explained that white-ball captain, Babar Azam, and Saim Ayub will act as the primary openers of the T20I side, while Mohammad Rizwan will come in at number #3.
The ex-cricketer explained, ‘We need to go with match-ups after assessing the conditions,’ that the national team will send out a batter who plays good against a particular bowler or type of bowling after analyzing the conditions of a particular ground.
Azhar said that the team wanted wicket-keeper batter, Mohammad Rizwan, to come back in form after spending time on the crease which is why he was sent in at one-down. He played a knock of 22 runs at a strike-rate of 104 whic
h slowed the innings during the middle-overs. Rizwan is out of the five-match series after suffering a hamstring injury while batting.
Former all-rounder stated that the team will try to be more flexible in the upcoming matches after learning from the loss. All-rounder, Shadab Khan, gave a statement in a post-match interview where he confessed that he prefers to bat in the higher order.
Source: Pro Pakistani