The dawn of a new era in Pakistan's T20I cricket under the leadership of Shaheen Shah Afridi is likely to bring a change of role for former captain Babar Azam. Pakistan have reached New Zealand and are slated to play a five-match T20I series against the Blackcaps starting January 12 (Friday).
Babar, who has predominantly played as an opener in T20I cricket for Pakistan is likely to move down to the number three slot during the eagerly-anticipated series.
The team management is reportedly going to try out a new opening pair during the course of the series with the emerging star Saim Ayub likely to pair up wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan at the top.
Notably, Ayub opens for his Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Peshawar Zalmi and hence won't be batting out of position with Rizwan, if Pakistan make the change. Ayub opened alongside Babar during the PSL 2023 and aggregated 341 runs in 12 games.
The 21-year-old racked up his runs in the competition at an eye-catching strike rate of 165.53 with the help of five half-centuries.
On the other hand, If the move is enforced during the series then it will bring a new challenge for Babar, who in a way will be batting out of his preferred position. The 29-year-old has played 77 innings as an opener in the shortest format of the game for Pakistan and wields an impressive record.
He has amassed 2711 runs at a strike rate of 130.52 and averages a touch under 40 (39.86) as an opener in T20Is. His outings as a T20I opener include three centuries and 24 fifties. Notably, he holds the record for scoring the most number of runs by a Pakistani opening batter in the format.
The newly-appointed vice-captain of the side, Mohammad Rizwan, is second on the list with 2612 runs in 58 innings.
