Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is out of the three-match T20I series against New Zealand with a thumb injury, and this may prove to be the final nail in Men in Green’s coffin who were already not a 100 per cent after visiting the no-Covid haven.
Pakistani players already had a lot of baggage to deal with as they had to quarantine in isolation for 14 days, where they were warned after protocol breaches, lost the exemption to start training after just 10 days in isolation, saw no less than 10 fellow players test positive for coronavirus – all this mental exhaustion even before the series had started.
And now with their leader out of the T20Is and the vice-captain Shadab Khan also doubtful to participate, there won’t be a lot of confidence left their tank.
Babar’s omission doesn’t only deprive Pakistan of a young and able captain on the field, but all batsmen will now be looking at each other so as to ascertain that who will take his place as the anchor at the opening spot or the upper middle-order.
Babar’s consistency and his run-scoring form was one of the key factors Pakistan were hoping to bank on when the New Zealand series started. With an average of nearly 51 and a strike rate of approximately 130 in T20Is, there is no other batsman in the Pakistani line-up who can come even close to right-handed batsman.
Babar’s last 10 innings boast six fifties, with all the strike rates above 120s, a feat which no other batsman will be able to replicate against the Kiwi pace line-up.
Although there is some hope that young players like Abdullah Shafique and Khushdil Shah may step up and prove to be the X-factor against New Zealand, but expecting them to do what Babar does for Pakistan, at such an early stage of their career and on their first tour outside of Pakistan, will be unfair.
Pakistan have hope in the form of experienced Hafeez as well, who has four fifties, two 40-plus and three 30-plus scores in his last 10 innings, but New Zealand would be well-aware that he struggles against genuine pace, a department don’t lack in. Trent Boult has been called back for Pakistan T20Is, so Hafeez may get the proverbial sweaty palms when asked to face him. (I know everyone is thinking of Dale Steyn right now).
However, if one has to choose a player who can help Pakistan not miss Babar is Haider Ali. Many still say that he still hasn’t proven his worth, but no one can deny the talent he so obviously possesses.
Haider has played a total of four T20Is for Pakistan and doesn’t have a big international portfolio to boast in the shortest format, but his clean-hitting ability is currently second to none in the Pakistan squad.
If he can somehow inculcate mature shot-selection in his arsenal, and instead of becoming the next Shahid Afridi, focuses on following Babar’s lead on how to construct a T20 innings, the kid can go places he wouldn’t even have thought of.
There is no doubt that Pakistan will miss Babar when the first T20I starts on December 12 at Eden Park, but all thanks to some new blood in the batting line-up, there is hope that the Men in Green will not surrender without a fight.
Everything on the New Zealand tour is happening to break Pakistan’s spirit, but the world of cricket knows well enough that when cornered, Men in Green always fight back, and that too unforgivingly.
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