"Too often he perishes once the field is spread" - Mudassar Nazar wants Pakistan to rethink Fakhar Zaman's batting position in T20s

Former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar has called for the national team to reassess Fakhar Zaman's batting position by identifying his struggles. Nazar feels that the southpaw deserves another look as an opener, given the lack of acceleration by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the Asia Cup.

Zaman's form was patchy in the recently concluded Asia Cup in which Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka by 23 runs in the final. The southpaw managed only 96 runs in six matches at an average of 16 with a strike rate of 103.23, including a golden duck in the final against Sri Lanka.

Reflecting on Zaman's performances in the latest edition of the Pakistan Super League, Nazar pointed out how well he performs in the powerplay and holes out when the field spreads.

The 66-year-old further observed that both Rizwan and Azam bat at the same pace. Hence, Fakhar could come up the order.

On this, Nazar was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.pk:

"They should address the batting number of Fakhar Zaman. We have seen in the previous PSL how devastatingly good he is in the power play but only too often he perishes once the field is spread and he is caught in the deep. I am aware of how successful Babar and Rizwan have been but they bat at the same pace and seldom take the game away from the opposition."

Nazar continued:

"But if we are afraid to tinker with their partnership, then we may have to take another opinion about Fakhar. Another thing we must do is to scan the last PSL and look for the successful batsmen for the franchises who regularly bat in the first five and are performing day in and day out."

Pakistan's openers struggled to deliver impactful performances in the Asia Cup. While Rizwan finished as the tournament's leading run-getter, he scored a 49-ball 55 in the final while chasing 171. In contrast, Babar Azam managed only 68 runs in six games at an average of 11.33.

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"Sri Lanka deserved to win this Cup since they beat Pakistan convincingly twice" - Mudassar Nazar

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs. (Credits: Getty)

Mudassar Nazar claimed that Sri Lanka were the deserving winners after beating the Men in Green twice. He feels that they delivered a collective performance which led to their success:

"Sri Lanka deserved to win this Cup since they beat Pakistan convincingly twice. While Pakistan's batting and overall performance declined through the tournament, Sri Lanka kept improving through consistent performance from their key players with almost all the players contributing throughout the tournament."

Babar Azam and Co. will next face England in a seven-match T20 series at home, starting on September 20. Lahore and Karachi will host the historic series.