Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan explains how Indian bowlers should bowl for Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan who are currently two of the best T20 batters in the world.
Irfan Pathan Advices Indian Bowlers
Pakistan cricket team who currently faces lots of criticism for their middle order failure has lost the final match of the Aisa Cup 2022 against Sri Lanka and went on to lose the home T20I series against England.
Though Pakistan struggles with middle-order player their opening batters remain at their peak and drags the team toward a well-deserved score every time.
Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Indian former cricket Irfan Pathan says “Don’t give them any width whatsoever, especially Rizwan, because he’s the guy who takes the Powerplay on his shoulders. Just try to get the pace going. Babar takes his time. So, you need to be aware of those situations and those batters”.
“First of all, the line has to be on the stumps, with tight lines. And with both batters, the length changes slightly. When it comes to Rizwan, you can afford to bowl more fuller. You can try to hit him beneath the knee roll. This is where your line and length can be.
“And when it comes to Babar Aazam, you need to get him out LBW, but your aim should not be on his front leg, it should be behind his leg because he’s slightly open. See, you need to make that kind of planning.
This is where Arshdeep and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar come in with that in-swinging delivery. We need to be aware that Pakistan are not very good with spin bowling.
So, you need to keep an eye whether you can give one odd over to spinners in the Powerplay. You know, I’ll be very tempted to see what the team management is doing.”
India will play their first match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 against Pakistan on October 23 in Melbourne.
