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Reports from Auckland, where the Pakistan cricket team are currently training, have mentioned that former captain Babar Azam is set to relinquish his spot as one of the openers for Pakistan in T20Is to facilitate the inclusion of 21-year-old Saim Ayub in the XI.
The move will see Babar moving down to the middle order, where Pakistan evidently have had a lot of issues in the recent past.
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Babar has proved his worth in the middle order, which is where he functions in the longer formats of the game. The 31-year-old is one of the best batsmen around who can operate as an anchor with the ability to shift gears.
MORE: What is Ahmed Shehzad’s record in T20Is? Will the Pakistan opener play at the 2024 T20 WC?
Will Babar Azam play in the Pakistan middle-order?
As per the reports from Auckland, Pakistan’s new T20I skipper Shaheen Afridi, team director Mohammad Hafeez, and high-performance coach had a meeting with Babar to inform him that he was no longer considered an opener for the shortest format and that he would be demoted to the middle order.
In the nets, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar’s opening partner in T20Is, was seen practicing against new balls with Saim Ayub. Meanwhile, Babar and Fakhar Zaman were seen taking on the spinners, which clearly shows that the duo will be operating as middle-order enforcers for Pakistan from here on.
While Babar has excelled as an opener for Pakistan, scoring over 2700 runs including three centuries, he averages more in the middle order.
The 29-year-old has scored 774 runs as a middle-order batsman at an average of 48.38, compared to his average of 39.87 as an opener.
His strike rate, however, takes a huge dip when he plays as a middle-order batsman.
Babar Azam’s stats comparison as an opener and a middle-order batter:
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | S.R. | 50s | 100s | HS | |
| As an opener | 79 | 77 | 2711 | 39.87 | 130.52 | 24 | 3 | 122 |
| As a middle-order batsman | 25 | 21 | 774 | 48.38 | 121.50 | 6 | 0 | 86 |
| Total | 104 | 98 | 3485 | 41.49 | 128.40 | 30 | 3 | 122 |
Who is Saim Ayub, the rumoured new opening partner of Mohammad Rizwan?
Saim Ayub is a 21-year-old hard-hitting opening batsman who hails from Karachi. He made his T20I debut for Pakistan in 2023, playing eight T20Is and scoring 123 runs at an underwhelming average of 17.57 and a strike rate of 123.00.
Ayub is a left-handed batsman, which will give Pakistan the left-hand/right-hand opening combo. The hope for Pakistan is inclusion in the XI as an opener will help the Men in Green have quickfire starts in the powerplay, a seemingly irksome problem in the past 12-24 months.
The southpaw currently plays for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League and for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL.
In PSL 2023, Ayub finished as the seventh-highest run scorer with 341 runs from 12 innings, scoring five half-centuries and striking at 165.53.
In CPL 2023, Ayub was incredible throughout the tournament, scoring 478 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 142.26, and scoring four half-centuries. He finished just three shy of top scorer Shai Hope’s tally of 481 runs.
Saim Ayub’s stats in T20s in 2023:
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | S.R. | 50s | 100s | HS | |
| Pakistan (T20Is) | 8 | 7 | 123 | 17.57 | 123.00 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
| PSL 2023 | 12 | 12 | 341 | 28.42 | 165.53 | 5 | 0 | 74 |
| CPL 2023 | 13 | 13 | 478 | 43.45 | 142.26 | 4 | 0 | 85 |
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