3 changes Pakistan need to beat New Zealand in second T20I

First of all Shadab Khan and co need to find a new opening pair if they want to win second T20I against New Zealand

KARACHI:

Pakistan are all set to enter the second T20I against New Zealand in a do-or-die situation. After a five-wicket loss in the first match, the Men in Green, under stand-in captain Shadab Khan’s leadership would be looking to level the series when they face the Black Caps on Sunday.

With star batsman Babar Azam out of the T20I series, Pakistan looked shaky in the middle-order during the first T20I. While Shadab batted, fielded and bowled perfectly with the additional responsibility of leading the side, other Pakistani players were found wanting against the hosts.

Here are the three changes Pakistan can make to turn the tide in their favour during the second T20I.

1. Figure out an opening pair

Muhammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique may be good batsmen, but they are not cut out for the role of opening batsmen and this became perfectly clear when they couldn’t give Pakistan a good start in the first match.

Although Pakistan are lacking full-time openers at the moment, they could very well go with Muhammad Hafeez since he has a lot of experience to offer in the role. Also, his form in the recent past dictates that he still has that the Midas touch and can easily score a quick 40 or 50 to get Pakistan going from the star.

As for his partner, since Pakistan is looking Haider Ali to become their next big superstar batsman, they can always give him a chance to open the batting. He failed to score in the first T20I so he’ll be raring to go, and what better time to go ballistic and bring the opposition under pressure than at the opening spot.

2. Avoid butter fingers

Catches win matches never gets old but Pakistan haven’t figured that out yet, maybe. Faheem Ashraf dropping a sitter in the first T20I was a sign that fielding under pressure is still not Pakistani cricketers’ forte.

While Shadab’s flying catch in the first match made everyone stand in their seats, Faheem’s spill spilled water all over Pakistan’s fielding endeavours. A wicket at such a crucial point in the game could’ve turned the match on its head easily.

While Pakistani management is always adamant that the players are working really hard in the fielding department, such instances have always proved otherwise.

Pakistan need to take those crucial catches when they are offered in the second T20I, also sprint towards the ball to stop those singles from turning into double. A run saved in the field is a run you don’t have to score in batting.

3. Tweak the bowling plan

Pakistani pacers Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Faheem did pretty well with the ball during the first T20I and Shadab’s smart bowling changes brought the Men in Green back in the game while defending quite too often, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room for improvement.

While the question of what to do with Wahab will always be difficult to answer, Pakistan can always try to make him bowl at the star rather than at the death to avoid misfortunes.

Even if Wahab is going through a bad day and is being hit out of the park too much, bowling him at the start won’t leave Pakistan clueless with nearly no runs remaining to defend, as it happened in the first T20I.

All in all, Pakistan did pretty well in the first T20I and had their moments where they took the Kiwis by surprise and made Pakistanis believe that they could actually win, however, they just need to plug the minor leakages to avoid their ship from sinking in the second match.