‘You broke the pair that was famous worldwide’ – Former PCB chairman slams management for splitting Babar Azam – Mohammad Rizwan opening combination

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raza has lashed out at team management for breaking the opening partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the ongoing five matches of the T20I series against New Zealand. Notably, Mohammad Rizwan is batting as an opener, whereas Babar Azam comes to bat at number 4. However, both star cricketers have been the openers since the T20 World Cup 2022 and have had great success as the opening batters for Pakistan.

Ramiz Raza revealed that so much pressure was created to break the partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam. However, the former Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman feels one should keep strike rate in mind as well as success in international cricket before breaking any partnership in any format of the game. The well-renowned cricket commentator feels PCB did the wrong thing after breaking the famous opening partnership in T20Is.

Meanwhile, the 61-year-old cricketer feels it takes time to give a chance to a new batter as an opener, so one should not break the current one if it has gotten successful.

So much pressure was created to break the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan: Ramiz Raza

“So much pressure was created to break the opening pair of Babar and Rizwan. After breaking the opening partnership with Pakistan, which was evaluated based on the strike rate. When you bring in new players, they may perform well in leagues, but international cricket is a different beast where there is pressure, and the focus of the entire world is on you. You broke the opening pair that was famous worldwide,” Ramiz Raza said on his YouTube channel.

“Either you have workshop of trained openers behind you who are gradually being introduced, when you have no other options. It takes time to form an opening pair. It’s not an easy task. So, if you have a pair, and they consistently kept you in the field during matches, what benefit did you get after breaking it?” he added further.