Islamabad
Former Pakistani cricketers believe that Skipper Babar Azam should have come out to bat in the super over of the third ODI against Zimbabwe saying the Lahore-born cricketer needed to improve as a batsman for the betterment of the side.
The actual match finished in a tie after tailender Musa Khan hit the final delivery of the 50th over from Richard Ngarava for a boundary to level the scores at 278.
But player of the match Muzarabani (who had bagged figures of 5/49), dismissed Iftikhar and Khushdil for two runs on four balls in the super over which Zimbabwe scored off just three balls without any loss.
Despite the defeat Pakistan have won the three-match series by 2-1. Bath teams would now be seen in the action in the three Twenty20s be held at the same venue on November 7, 8 and 10. Former Pakistani Skipper Ramiz Raja was disappointed to see the Men in Green’s strategy in the super over.
“The talent which was introduced during the super over was not right. Babar Azam, who had scored a century, would have been seeing the ball like a football and he should have come out to bat for the super over as well. The person who is in form should always be ready for the super over,” he said on his official YouTube channel as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.
“Fakhar had not played in the previous two games who would have been low on confidence and seemed rusty. Iftikhar did not have a good match and he is a middle-order batsman and Khushdil Shah was playing his first match,” he said. —APP
