Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja opened up after Pakistan lost to England in the second T20I by 23 runs saying that the Babar Azam-led unit needs to improve in certain areas.
Babar and Co. were bowled out for 160 while chasing a target of 184. This was England's eighth win in the last 11 T20Is against Pakistan.
Talking after the match on his YouTube channel, Raja stated that Pakistan needs to bring back the opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam and bench Saim Ayub as he is still “undercooked”.
“Win or lose is part of the game but Pakistan could’ve competed better and may have even won at the end but they made mistakes. First, let’s identify the problem areas for Pakistan,” Raja said on YouTube.
“First, Saim Ayub coming as an opener. I don’t think Pakistan should continue with Saim. He has been given too many chances and you have to do better in [international] cricket. He is undercooked. You need to revert to the opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam because that is Pakistan’s strength and they understand each other’s game. The entire combination has been disturbed due to Saim.”
He also talked about Shaheen Afridi’s underwhelming spell with the ball and urged him to develop variations before saying that Azam Khan needs to improve his batting against pace as he can be analysed by opponents without much difficulty.
“Second, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s bowling. Look, if the ball isn’t swinging and he bowls at full length, then he gets bashed. He needs to develop length ball and change of pace especially when he is not getting much from the pitch. Even today, he didn’t bowl perfectly with the new ball and [England] escaped pressure,” he said.
“And then, Azam Khan’s batting against pace is problematic. With the team, as big teams will analyse him, they will use short balls against him, and they will make him come out of his comfort zone. His strike rate against spin is very good but not against pace.
“I need to understand Shadab Khan’s role with the bat. When he comes to bat, he starts hitting like a slogger at number 5. At that time, you needed to build a partnership and take the game deep with wickets in hands,” he added.
- Ramiz Raja