'Babar Azam is a class player but Rizwan has played a big role in making him classy': Aakash Chopra

Cricketer-turned-expert Aakash Chopra said wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has played a big hand in making Pakistan skipper Babar Azam an even better player. Rizwan and Azam put on an absolute show by stitching a 152-run stand for the opening wicket against India. The duo paced the innings beautifully and didn’t give the Indian bowlers a sniff. This thumping victory by Pakistan was also their first win against India in 20-20 World Cups.

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Azam and Rizwan have been in scintillating form in the T20Is this year. While the former has scored two hundreds, the latter has scored close to 800 runs. During the game against India, the duo got to their fourth 100-run stand. Both Rizwan and Azam complement each other well and score runs briskly. Chopra though feels Rizwan’s ability to score at a faster clip allows the Pakistani skipper to play the sheet anchor role.

"India has never lost by ten wickets and no other pair has batted with such dominance against India in T20I cricket," said Chopra on youtube channel.

"Babar Azam is a class player but Rizwan has played a big role in making him classy. What a stroke player Rizwan is, he accelerates so that Babar can manage to play run-a-ball. It was a dominating display of batting and a proper annihilation of sorts in a destructive manner," he added.

Of the two batters, wicketkeeper batter Rizwan switched gears seamlessly and took on Indian bowlers. He was not afraid to use his feet and also not wary of hitting the pacers from the back foot. He remained unbeaten on 79 off just 55 balls. Meanwhile, the Pakistani skipper was slow to get off the blocks and was happy to play the second fiddle to Rizwan. Azam remained undefeated on 68 and helped Pakistan get to a winning start in the showpiece event.