The much-awaited ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia is just a few days away, and Pakistan ended their seven-match T20I series against England on a low note. Fans and experts have raised many questions regarding Pakistan’s middle-order strength.

After the failure in the T20 Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, the selectors, management, and coaches did some experiments for the series against England, but unfortunately, these changes also proved unsuccessful.

After another T20I series defeat, the management has defended the middle-order batting style and is hopeful that Pakistan batters will perform well in the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan’s batting backbone Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are consistent and reliable. Both were the top run-scorers in the series. Rizwan scored 316 runs in 6 T20I innings with a strike rate of 138.58. He smashed 23 fours and 10 sixes in the whole series. Babar also performed well and scored 285 runs in 7 innings with a strike rate of 143.21. He also scored his second T20I century.

In the second match of the series, the devastating duo set a new world record for partnership runs in a T20 chase, scoring 203 together without losing a wicket.

The performance of openers has always played a crucial role in T20I cricket. If the openers provide an aggressive start, then the middle order can chase or set a big total.

But most of the criticism about these two openers is regarding their strike rate in the first six overs as other teams take maximum advantage in the batting powerplay. In the England series, Rizwan had a strike rate of 138.59 (129.89 in the powerplay) and Babar 143.21 (124.13 in the powerplay).

Former cricketers say that both openers should play aggressive cricket in the first six overs to minimise pressure on middle-order batters.

Former Test cricketer Tauseef Ahmed talking to “The News on Sunday” said Babar and Rizwan failed to take maximum advantage in the first six overs. The openers should play attacking cricket and take 10 runs per over in powerplay, he added.

“Rizwan has played remarkable knocks for Pakistan in the last two years and he is the most dangerous batsman right now,” he Tauseef said.

Tauseef said that this series failure exposed Pakistan’s middle-order strength ahead of the T20 World Cup. “Our middle-order did not show their intent to chase 200 or higher targets after Rizwan and Babar got out early,” he said.

He also expressed his disappointment with the coach’s strategy, saying that Pakistan wasted a chance to experiment with the batting order. “I think Babar should have played one down in this series because he plays defensively and intelligently and Pakistan needs someone who can play big shots with Rizwan in the opening,” the former off spinner said.

“Babar should give chance to Fakhar Zaman as an opener with Rizwan in the upcoming T20 World Cup because Fakhar will take more advantage in the power play than Babar,” Tauseef said.

Fakhar is in the traveling reserves for the Pakistan T20 World Cup squad.

Meanwhile, Haider Ali did not get a chance to play in the playing XI of the Asia Cup, but in this series, coaches gave a proper chance to young Haider to show his skills as a proper T20 batsman, but unfortunately, he failed to impress selectors.

The 22-year-old batter played 5 matches, 4 innings and scored only 36 runs with a strike rate of 94.73.

Tauseef is in favour of including senior cricketers Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad. “Malik made great contributions in the past. He knows how to play in Australian conditions and Sarfaraz is better than Mohammad Haris,” he said.

Malik’s last appearance for Pakistan in a T20I series was against Bangladesh last year. He has played a record 124 T20 Internationals, and scored 2435 runs, averaging 31.21. Overall, he has played 472 T20s and scored 11,698 runs with 71 half-centuries.

Former cricketer Abdul Rauf expressed concerns about Asif Ali’s batting style as he failed to handle pressure in middle overs when he got an opportunity.

“Asif should play his role as a batsman in the team if he gets a chance in the middle overs. He should play responsibly. A batsman should be able to play at any number as per the team’s requirement,” he said.

Asif scored 34 runs in four 4 T20I innings against England with a strike rate of 136.00.

“The selectors should give a chance to Sherjeel Khan for his recent performances in the National T20 Cup,” he said.

Rauf thinks Fakhar and Sherjeel are proper T20 openers due to their aggressive cricket.

“Azam Khan is a better choice than Khushdil Shah because Azam plays according to the requirements of T20 cricket. Azam can perform well in short formats but selectors ignored him consistently,” he said.

In the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League, Azam played several solid knocks to take his team (Barbados Royals) to the final. He scored 257 runs in 10 innings of CPL at a 127.86 strike rate.

Rauf blasted Khushdil Shah’s batting approach. “Khushdil needs to improve himself,” he said.

Khushdil scored only 63 runs at a strike rate of 112.5 against England.