Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub and Babar Azam
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub and Babar Azam. Image Credits: Twitter

Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam has clarified that Mohammad Rizwan will be his opening partner in the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand, as in the previous T20I series against Afghanistan, Men in Green without their regular openers, tried youngsters like Saim Ayub and Mohammad Haris. Also, Babar and Rizwan came under the radar recently for their slow batting at the top order.

While in the recently concluded Afghanistan series, the national selectors rested Babar, Shaheen, Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman and Rizwan for the T20 series in Sharjah, which Men in Green lost by 1-2.

Saim Ayub in 3rd T20I against Afghanistan
Saim Ayub in the 3rd T20I against Afghanistan. Image Credits: Twitter

 Will continue with my opening pair with Mohammad Rizwan – Babar Azam

“There is no such plan currently to experiment with the opening pair. We will continue with my opening partnership with Rizwan.

“After that, we will decide which player is suitable for what number in the batting order. We will announce the playing XI for the first T20I after practice tonight,” said the Pakistani skipper.

Peshawar Zalmi’s star, Ayub In his debut series, shined in the third T20I vs Afghanistan. The left-handed batter scored 49 runs to take his side post the 183-run target. Ayub recently played in Babar Azam-led PSL franchise Peshawar Zalmi, while his teammate from Zalmi, Haris was not able to perform well in the opening slot, and managed only 22 runs in three T20I in UAE.

“The good thing about these youngsters is that they aren’t worried about their batting positions. All they say is tell us the plan what is required for the betterment of the team,” he said on youngsters like Saim Ayub and Mohammad Haris.

While the left-handed batter’s stylish batting and consistency made him a solid candidate for his maiden call-up to the national side. In 12 matches he scored 341 runs in PSL 8.

Besides this, Babar is regarded as one of the great batters of International cricket–and is most often compared to Indian ace batter Virat Kohli. He is currently the No.1 ODI batter for over 700 days. Babar has a total of 28 hundred in all formats of cricket in International cricket, with a little over 59 average in the 50-over format.

The upcoming T20I series of Pakistan against New Zealand, PAK vs NZ is comprised of 5 matches starting on April 14th in Rawalpindi.

Also read: IPL 2023: Pakistan’s New Batting Sensation Saim Ayub Reveals His Love For Virat Kohli And RCB