Babar Azam opens up on Pakistan’s batting powerplay strategy

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has opened up about his team’s batting powerplay strategy during the ongoing T20 World Cup.

While speaking in a virtual press conference, Azam revealed that the plan is to score around 40-50 runs in the first six overs.

Pakistan have scored runs at a rate of 5.83 in the powerplay overs during the event, so far, but have only lost two wickets in the process.

“Sometimes we aren’t able to execute our plans because of the conditions but we always try to score around 40-50 runs in the powerplay. Even if we aren’t able to do that, the good thing is that we don’t lose wickets and bat deep so that our power hitters can utilise the remaining overs,” said Azam.

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He also backed Hasan Ali despite the pacer’s below-par performances in the tournament.  

“Hasan Ali is our main bowler and a match-winner, who has helped us win tournaments in the past. We will back him and I’m sure that, being a big match player, he will come up with a good performance in the semi-final and final,” he said.

The Pakistan skipper also heaped praise on his squad ahead of the semi-final against Australia on November 11.

“Eight to nine players in this side were part of the Champions Trophy [2017], World Cup [2019] and now they are also playing in this World Cup. I think this a good bunch of players who believe in each other’s abilities. Another positive for us is that there was a different player of the match in all the games, which shows that every player is willing to take responsibility and their roles are clear,” he said.

“We want to continue the same performance in the semi-final as well,” he concluded.