Pakistan opt not to use Babar Azam against Namibia in rare call

In a rare occurrence in his T20 career, Babar Azam was not sent out to bat in Pakistan's final group stage game against Namibia. Babar, who has been batting at the No. 4 spot lately, sat ready in the dugout while first Khawaja Nafay and then Shadab Khan were promoted up the order.

This was only the fourth time in his 338 T20 innings-long career that Babar did not bat. The previous instance came during a dead rubber T20I against Zimbabwe in 2020, when then-captain Babar sent other batters in ahead of him.

Babar did not bat

Among games where a full 20 overs were bowled, this was the first time since 2012, when Babar played his first T20 game for Lahore Eagles in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup, that the right-handed batter did not make his way to the middle at all. 

When captain Salman Ali Agha was dismissed, Pakistan were at 118 for 2 in the 13th over, with a set Sahibzada Farhan still standing. In what seemed to be a tactical move to maintain the run rate, Pakistan sent in Khawaja Nafay, who lasted just five balls. After his fall, Babar was held back once again as Shadab made his way out. 

Babar moved out of top 3

Babar had recently been moved down from the top three spots, where he has batted in roughly 88 per cent of his T20I career, to No. 4 with the Pakistan captain coming in at the first drop. According to Salman, the move was aimed at letting him counter the spin and capitalise on the power play more aggressively up front.

Pakistan eventually defeated Namibia by 102 runs, booking their Super Eights spot according to the pre-determined seedings.

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