Former Captain Shahid Afridi suggests Babar Azam to drop down the order

• Pakistan will play on Wednesday’s T20 World Cup semifinal match against New Zealand
• Shahid Afridi advised Pakistan to bench skipper Babar Azam and start Mohammad Haris as opener
• Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood, the middle-order batters for Pakistan, should be as aggressive as the top order

For Wednesday’s T20 World Cup semifinal match against New Zealand, former captain Shahid Afridi advised Pakistan to bench skipper Babar Azam and start Mohammad Haris as opener.

Before the Netherlands stunned South Africa on Sunday, Pakistan, the 2009 winners, appeared to be out of the competition.

The top two T20 batsmen going into the event were Mohammad Rizwan and Babar, however neither of them has yet to score a fifty in the competition. In contrast to Babar, Pakistan’s top batter, who has a strike rate of 61.90, Rizwan has scored at a run-per-ball rate.

In the first semi-final in Sydney, both will need to step up their game against the runners-up from the previous year, New Zealand. Against Thursday in Adelaide, India takes on England in the second semifinal.

“Babar Azam needs to listen to suggestions,” former captain Afridi told a private TV channel.

“We need to use Mohammad Haris with fielding restrictions. Babar Azam should drop to number three.”

Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood, the middle-order batters for Pakistan, should be as aggressive as the top order, according to Afridi.

“You look at Iftikhar or Shan Masood and you can see their intention in their body language, that they are looking to hit the ball. We need that kind of intention, that kind of cricket.

“What’s the point of scoring a run-a-ball 30 or 35 if you can’t finish the game having used up that many deliveries?” Afridi added.

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