The Super 12s stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup is set to commence on Saturday and with six teams vying for the top two spots from both the groups, a lot will depend on how the batters cope with the slow and spinning conditions in the UAE. Just like every other team, Pakistan will be pinning their hopes on their best two batters, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to score consistently throughout the tournament.
Both Babar and Rizwan will need to put on a solid start and provide Pakistan’s middle-order with the perfect platform to score big.
The Men in Green have had an issue with their batting line-up in previous T20 World Cups with the batters struggling in different conditions. While many players have played their part in the tournament, no player has shown the consistency required to excel in such mega events.
Former Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, looked set to become one of the consistent performers for Pakistan in T20 World Cups before his ban from cricket in 2010. He had the best campaign for a Pakistani batter in a single edition of a T20 World Cup. Butt scored 223 runs at an average of 44.60 and a strike rate of 131.17 in 6 matches in the 2010 T20 World Cup.
Despite Butt’s exceptional performances in the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan were unable to lift the title as they agonizingly lost to Australia in the semi-final.
Let’s have a look at Pakistan’s highest scorers in a single edition of the T20 World Cup:
Pakistani batters will need to perform much better as no Pakistani batter is currently in the top ten scorers in T20 World Cups. Veteran middle-order batter, Shoaib Malik is Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in T20 World Cups, having scored only 546 runs in six World Cups.
Source: Pro Pakistani