“Today was an opportunity to test the middle order”: Waqar Younis remarks Pakistan’s over reliance on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan exposed the middle order vs Sri Lanka in Dubai

Waqar Younis remarks Pakistan’s middle order was exposed today despite getting ample Overs to bat during Asia Cup match versus Sri Lanka.

During the last match of the ongoing ‘Super 4’ stage of Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis lashed out at Pakistan’s middle-order, which had no answers to the questions posed by the Sri Lankan bowlers tonight.

After being invited to bat first by Sri Lankan spinner Dasun Shanaka, the Pakistan top-order led by skipper Babar Azam (30 off 29) were not even close to their best with the bat, as they lost half the side by the 15th Over with only 91 runs on the scoreboard.

Babar, in particular, was yet again criticized by fans across social media for playing a rather unaggressive innings as per T20 standards, with the scorecard reading 66/2 after 10 Overs.

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However, the remaining middle-order batters too, failed to strike at even a 100, with Mohammad Rizwan (14 off 14), Fakhar Zaman (13 off 18), Iftikhar Ahmed (13 off 17), and Khushdil Shah (4 off 8) coming up with lackluster performances as well, despite it being a dead rubber.

Waqar Younis remarks Pakistan’s middle order was exposed

With the opening pair of Babar-Rizwan failing to provide their side an ideal start tonight, the onus was on the middle-order to come good with ample Overs left in the innings, ahead of the grand finale on Sunday.

As per Waqar Younis, who is part of the Asia Cup 2022 host broadcaster Star Sports’ commentary panel, Pakistan’s middle-order was entirely exposed versus Sri Lanka in the dead rubber tonight, and questioned the team’s continued over-dependence on Babar and Rizwan.

“How long are we going to keep on relying on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Today was the opportunity to test the middle-order. They came in when there were plenty of overs left but were exposed”, remarked Waqar while commentating for Star Sports.

Resultantly, Pakistan were bundled up on a paltry 121 in 19.1 Overs, with Babar emerging to be the top scorer.

In reply, Sri Lanka, on the back of a well composed knock by opener Pathum Nissanka (55* off 48), chased the target down with 5 wickets in hand, and three Overs to spare.