Raja said Pakistan's performance in the T20 World Cup in 2021 was not given much weight.
Ramiz Raja, the Pakistan cricket board (PCB) chairman, was surprised to see people suggesting that the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan should be broken up, as he felt they were the best-ever opening partnerships Pakistan has seen.
Raja also denied making any changes to the top order ahead of the all-important T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Pakistan’s opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan has scored bucket of runs, especially in T20Is, but the middle-order batters' inability to contribute runs and win matches has forced many to suggest that Babar should bat at no.4 in order to give solidarity to the batting lineup.
Ramiz Raja said that Pakistan had tried more than ten different opening pairs, but they didn’t work while stressing that people can’t expect the team to win all the games.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, Ramiz Raja said: “People say we play old-style T20, I disagree, our team is very good. The pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan is our best-ever pair, I am surprised that people want to separate them. In the past, more than ten pairs were tried and people used to say that the Pakistan team did not have a good pair, now that we have a great pair of openers, people discuss what binds our fantastic openers together.”
He added, “Pressure is in every game. Pakistan team was not given much importance in the last World Cup, but we won five matches. We have to give credit to this team, this team does not disappoint. Their achievements are very high. When the winning graph is seventy-five percent, it means you are making less mistakes. Consistency in performance every day is not easy, it is a tough game.”
Notably, Pakistan is currently participating in the New Zealand T20I tri-series featuring Bangladesh as well, where they have three matches out of four outings and are now set to face the hosts in the final on Friday (October 14) at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
Following the T20I tri-series, the Men in Green will travel to Australia for the T20 World Cup 2022, where they will play their first game against India on October 23.