‘They can change their game but it will affect a lot of things’ – Rashid Latif on Babar-Rizwan changing their playing styles

Rashid Latif and Babar Azam. (Source – Twitter/X)

After Pakistan’s recent clean sweep T20I series defeat against Australia, former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has made comparisons between Rohit Sharma’s adaptive batting approach and the current struggles of Pakistan’s top-order duo, Babar Azam and skipper Mohammad Rizwan.

The series loss exposed Men in Green’s difficulties in adapting to modern T20 cricket, with Australia creating history by becoming the first team to secure seven consecutive T20I victories against Pakistan. The hosts now lead the head-to-head record 14-13. Latif praised Rohit’s successful change in 50-over cricket while warned about the difficulties of adapting across formats.

“Rohit Sharma in one-day cricket was able to adapt very well. He changed the mindset in ODIs and it worked out very well. They reached the finals during the 2023 World Cup in India. He seemed like a different player. As for T20Is, all of them can play like this, but playing like this in ODIs is very hard. So a lot of credit must go to Rohit Sharma and the way he has brought about a change in ODIs for India. The way he changed everything in the entire Indian team,” Latif told Arvind Kalyana Krishnan in an exclusive interview as quoted by CricBlog.

However, Latif also mentioned that though the Indian skipper had success in white-ball, the same approach backfired on him during India’s recent Test defeat to New Zealand at home.

“That same style backfired in Tests and it massively flopped in Tests. I think he scored a 50 in one match and was dismissed by a fast bowler only. Although, there weren’t many fast bowlers. Despite having a good defence, he got out while trying to hit a shot, a cross-shot if I’m not wrong,” he added

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They can change their game but it will affect a lot of things: Rashid Latif

Pakistan’s main concern throughout the series was Babar’s form, who managed to score just 47 runs across three T20Is, following an underwhelming ODI series where he scored 80 runs. Similarly, Rizwan’s impact was limited, scoring only 16 runs in his two appearances before being rested for the final match.

While the team celebrated a historic ODI series victory under Rizwan’s leadership, their T20I performance shows a major gap between their current approach and modern T20 cricket requirements. Latif pointed out that players like Babar and Rizwan can modify their game, but should be careful to avoid the drawbacks of over-adaptation.

“They can change their game but it will affect a lot of things. Now you’ve spoken about Rohit Sharma so see, Rohit Sharma wanted to play the same way in Tests, he wanted the aggressive approach. However, it flopped. His style flopped in Tests and this led to a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, something that was unimaginable. So one must think how to play each format,” Latif concluded.

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