PAK vs AFG: “Babar and Rizwan will get more respect after this series loss”, Shadab Khan

Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the second T20I on March 26 and gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Pakistan’s Stand-in skipper Shadab Khan stated that senior batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will get a lot more respect after this series loss as fans and media will understand their importance.

Pakistan had trusted their young players who had performed exceedingly well in the recently concluded PSL 2023. However, the young batters couldn’t reciprocate the same performance in the T20I series against Afghanistan.

“People criticize Babar and Rizwan regardless of whether they perform or not. There is always a sword hanging over them of strike rate. As a nation, we wanted youngsters to come in international cricket, as they were performing in PSL, so we thought they would play with a better strike rate, ” Shadab Khan said in the post-match press conference.

“Our seniors didn’t get the respect they deserved”, Shadab Khan

Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been the pillars of Pakistan’s batting for a few years now. However, they constantly get criticized for their low strike rates which has cost a few games to Pakistan.

“But finally, our nation will realize that experience matters and our seniors didn’t get the respect they deserved considering their performances. So after this series, they will get a lot more respect from media and the nation,” the all-rounder further added.

Skipper Babar Azam has scored 3355 runs in 99 T20Is with a strike rate of 127.81. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has scored 2635 runs in 80 T20Is with a strike rate of 126.62. Both of them have received criticism for having strike rates of less than 130.

While the two batters have slightly low strike rates, they constantly play the role of anchor in the Pakistan batting lineup. There have been a number of occasions when the opponent bowlers have destroyed Pakistan’s batting after the early dismissal of Babar and Rizwan.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in the second T20I. On March 24, Afghanistan had defeated Pakistan in the first T20I by 6 wickets. Pakistan batters failed to score big on both occasions as they were just put on a total of 92-9 and 130-6 in the two games respectively.