Former Pakistani pace bowler Mohammad Amir recently shared that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were finalized as the openers in T20Is when Misbah-ul-Haq was the team’s head coach. Speaking to 24 News HD, he added how Misbah promoted Rizwan to the top of the order while demoting Fakhar Zaman, who was Pakistan’s best opener at the time as well. Amir also suggested that Fakhar ultimately had to bear the brunt of Rizwan’s behaviour in not wanting to bat at No. 5.

Mohammad Amir said: “Mohammad Rizwan started opening when Misbah-ul-Haq was the coach. Fakhar Zaman, who was the best T20 opening batter in the country, was asked to bat at No. 3 because of that. A good player can perform in all positions. In order to safeguard his place, you [Rizwan] said that said you can’t bat at No. 5, and because of that Fakhar was made the scapegoat. Both openers have their limitations and they don’t want to come out of their comfort zone.”

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Notably, Fakhar Zaman is yet to play a match at the T20 World Cup 2022 and both Babar and Rizwan have failed to perform. Following their successive defeats to India and Zimbabwe, their chances of making it to the semi-finals look uncertain too.

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Mohammad Amir added: “Liam Livingstone used to open for his county, ECB asked him can he bat in the middle, he adapted his game and look at him now how he hits sixes. South Africa’s Aiden Markram was an opener also, he also changed his game and now is doing well in the middle order.”