Pakistan dropped ace left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi and demoted star batter Babar Azam against Namibia in a must-win game after facing heavy defeat against India in the T20 World Cup group-stage match, but the team’s head coach, Mike Hesson on Friday rejected suggestions that changes were reactions to the heavy loss against India.
Hesson said the decisions, including moving Babar Azam down the order and leaving out Shaheen Shah Afridi for the match against Namibia, were made for tactical reasons.
India defeated Pakistan by 61 runs in the group-stage match, with Ishan Kishan leading the win with a major innings.
Shaheen conceded 15 runs in his final over, while Babar scored five runs.
“No, I wouldn’t say that (Shaheen was dropped because of poor performance and Babar pushed down the order because of the loss to India).
I think, as I said, (pacer) Salman Mirza deserved his opportunity,” said Hesson in a media interaction.
“And Babar was the first to recognise when left-arm spin was taking shape and it was turning that it wasn’t a smart move to send out two right handers.”
Babar did not bat against Namibia as Sahibzada Farhan scored an unbeaten century and carried the innings.
“So no, certainly not a paradigm shift, (it was) more about roles,” said Hesson, when asked if there was a “paradigm shift” after the defeat to India.
Pakistan will next face New Zealand in their Super 8 opener in Colombo on Saturday. Improving their powerplay returns is a key focus.
Hesson said Babar was moved from the opening position because his scoring rate in the powerplay has been below expectations.
“Babar is well aware of that. I think he’s well aware (his) strike rate in the powerplay in World Cups is less than 100 in T20s. So clearly, that’s not a role that we think here we need.
We think he’s a fine player through the middle, if required, in terms of if we’re in a little bit of trouble, or as we saw against the USA,” said Hesson.
“Once he gets himself set, he can increase his strike rate at that point. So, we brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup. We wanted some batsmanship through the middle, and he certainly brings that for us.”
Against Namibia, Shadab Khan was sent ahead of Babar.
Farhan and Shadab batted through the full 20 overs.
Hesson said Babar was not suited to come in around the 12th over when the team wanted to increase the scoring rate.
“So, the other day we got to the 12th over mark and at that point, Babar Azam is not the best person to come in. We’ve got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that role towards the end. He knows that he’s got a certain set of skills that the team require, and there are certain times where other players can perform that role more efficiently,” added Hesson.
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