'Worst ever opening pair in T20' - Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan under fire for sluggish batting approach against Bangladesh

Pakistan and Bangladesh locked horns in the 41^st match of the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022 at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Sunday, the 6^th of November. Bangla skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and decided to bat first in a virtual quarter-final to secure a berth into the knockouts of the tournament.

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Pakistan registered a win of five wickets against Shakib’s men to secure their spot in the semi-finals of the eighth edition of the 20-20 World Cup 2022. But some of the cricket fans were not happy with the batting approach from the star opening pair of Pakistan including skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as the duo scored with a very low strike rate in Pakistan’s run-chase of the target of 128 runs.

The fans immediately took to Twitter for lashing out at the opening pair of the men in green for their sluggish mindset in such a crucial match.

Here’s how fans reacted to the batting tendency of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan:

There have been 378 instances of a player facing 60+ balls in a T20 World Cup - only once has a player scored at a lower average and lower strike rate than what Babar Azam (Avg 7.80, SR 61.90) has managed in this WC.

— Netherlandennis 🟠🟠 (@DennisCricket_) November 6, 2022

Comparing Babar Azam with Virat Kohli should be considered blasphemy henceforth.

— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) November 6, 2022

Babar Azam has made sure that Bangladesh stays in the game. Awful batting!#PAKvsBAN

— Fidato (@tequieremos) November 6, 2022

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan batting together#PAKvsBAN pic.twitter.com/fRzwcpa5Sx

— عاقد (@aquidtweets) November 6, 2022

Have been saying this all the time. These 2 players are selfish and llay for records. Real statpadders

— Jainam Parekh (@JainamParekh5) November 6, 2022

Babar Azam in T20 World Cup 2022: 0(1), 4(9), 4(5), 6(15) & 25(33).

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 6, 2022

How have people been even comparing Babar Azam to Kohli? Babar is quite simply, a selfish player. Happy to get his form back at the cost of team. Kohli, even in his worse patch, would never be selfish and always put the team first.

— Abijit Ganguly (@AbijitG) November 6, 2022

Another electrifying innings by Babar Azam 25 off 33, 75 ki strike rate! ⚡️

Taliyan 👏

— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) November 6, 2022

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Babar Azam with another masterclass, today blistering 6 runs off just 15 balls🔥🔥😍 #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/k5pQglBaEY

— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) November 3, 2022

Babar Azam's strike-rate at this World Cup is 61.90#T20WorldCup #PAKvBAN

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) November 6, 2022

Tuk-tuk academy ke do pillars! #BabarAzam𓃵 #MohammadRizwan #PAKvsBAN #T20WorldCup

— Nikesh Sharma (@nikesh04sharma) November 6, 2022

Speaking of the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, riding on the 54-run knock from opening batter Najmul Hasan Shanto followed by the contributions of 20 and 24 runs respectively from Soumya Sarkar and Atif Hossain, Bangladesh somehow managed to score 127 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Ace Pakistan speedster made a sudden bounce back by scalping four wickets conceding only 22 runs in his quota of four overs with an economy rate of 5.40.

While chasing the target, Pakistan lost five wickets in achieving the target of 128 runs in 18.1 overs. Skipper Babar Azam played the slow knocks of 32 and 35 runs respectively eventually leading them to fall on the edge of being criticized.

Apart from the opening duo, the 21-year-old young PSL sensation Mohammad Harris played a quick knock of 31 runs off just 18 balls with two boundaries and a six to his name. Eventually, Shan Masood’s quick cameo of 24 runs off 14 balls helped Pakistan to cross the line and win the match by five wickets to secure their berth in the knockouts of the tournament.