‘We need firepower at the top’: Shahid Afridi’s advice to Babar Azam ahead of T20 World Cup semi-final

We have almost reached the final phase of the ICC T20 World Cup. After the dramatic turnarounds of Group 2 yesterday, fans have finally got their four semi-finalists- India, Pakistan, New Zealand and England. Though India were in a safer place to qualify for the semis before Sunday’s game against Zimbabwe, Pakistan dramatically paved their way to the final four thanks to their easy 5-wicket victory over Bangladesh and South Africa’s frustrating 13-run defeat against the Netherlands. However, former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi was not in the mood to celebrate early and went on to give some necessary suggestions to skipper Babar Azam before the team’s appearance in the knock-out stage.

Taking to his personal Twitter handle, Afridi warned Azam to pay more attention to the top order to get better results in the future. The former all-rounder suggested reorganising the batting line-up to accelerate the innings early in the game. According to him, Azam should come late at number 3 while Mohammad Haris can be a better partner with Mohammad Rizwan in the opening slots. Notably, Haris scored a quickfire 31 off 18 deliveries against Bangladesh.

Afridi wrote, “We need firepower at the top with batters who are showing clear intent like Haris and Shahdab. Please consider Haris opening with Riz and you (Babar Azam) one down followed by ur next-best hitter. You should be rigid on winning the match and flexible on a balanced batting lineup.” The comments section saw a lot of Pakistani fans agreeing with Afridi, who played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2009.

A fan noted, “Yes lala, you are absolutely right Babar should play at one down.”

Another user said, “Indeed, Great advice. Yes, do an experiment. When things are not working, let it be something out of the box. If Haris can give you aww start in Powerplay then what else you need, less pressure on Rizwan too.”

An individual acknowledged, “100% agree, they(Babar & Rizwan) create pressure on the middle order because of the same approach, Haris Would be an impactful as an opener.”

Additionally, in another Tweet, Afridi also showered immense praise for the bowling attack of the Pakistan squad. He made a special mention of their star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi who demolished the Bangladesh batting unit with a 4-wicket haul. Afridi also lauded Haris Rauf who has been doing consistently well in the tournament so far.

Congratulating the Men in Green, he stated in the Tweet, “Well done boys and excited to see how Haris is in the mix and the entire bowling inning was the best in today’s match specially Shaheen. Mubarak to all of Pakistan.”

Yesterday, at the Adelaide Oval, Bangladesh batted first and put up a below-par total of 127 runs. In reply, Pakistan batters did not have to face much resistance and breached the target quite comfortably with 11 balls left to spare.