“No one played a long innings”: Pakistan great blast Babar Azam and Co.

After Pakistan’s 7-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the third T20 match of the series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, former cricketer Ramiz Raja took a dig at the hosts and said that none of the ‘Men in Green’ batsmen played long innings. While talking on his official YouTube channel, Raja said that set batsmen should not be out after scoring just 20 to 30 runs. Talking about the Rawalpindi wicket, he said that a team can score at least 250 runs on that pitch. “The batsmen who are set should not get out after scoring only 20-30 runs. That’s why the score is only 180. This pitch is worth at least 250 runs, because we know how many runs have been scored here before. Pakistan scored less runs. Scored runs, and nobody played a long innings,” Raja said.

The former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman also criticized the hosts’ bowling performance against New Zealand, saying it was “mediocre”. He said that Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi had a “slow day” against the Kiwis.

“The bowling performance was also quite mediocre. The frontline bowlers, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi had a very slow day,” he said.

Recalling the match, after winning the toss the Kiwis decided to bowl first against the host team and their decision in the game went in their favor. Sam Ayub (32) and captain Babar Azam (37) opened for the Men in Green with a 55-run partnership.

Shadab Khan (41) was the only standout batsman for the hosts, hitting 4 fours and 2 overhead boundaries during his time at the crease. Apart from Shadab, Irfan Khan (30) also tried his best and took Pakistan to the score of 178/4.

Ish Sodhi led the Kiwi bowling attack and took two wickets for just 25 runs in his four-over spell. Bracewell and Jacob Duffy also took one wicket each in their respective spells.

During the run chase, Dean Foxcroft (31) and Mark Chapman (87) made a 117-run partnership to help New Zealand to a 7-wicket win in Rawalpindi. Pakistan displayed poor bowling performance in the match and Afridi and Shah were the only bowlers to take wickets in the match.

Currently, the five-match series is tied at 1-1 as both Pakistan and New Zealand managed to win only one game.