New Zealand vs Pakistan T20 World Cup: 3 Changes Pakistan can make for NZ vs PAK semi final

New Zealand vs Pakistan: Despite losing their first two matches of the T20 World Cup to India and Zimbabwe, Pakistan has managed to find a place in the top four, courtesy of the Netherlands’ upset over South Africa. They looked completely out of sorts in the initial games, with the major concern being the batting. Rizwan and Babar were criticized heavily for their low scoring rates. And to add to that, the lack of form of middle-order batters also added to the fuel. But ever since the arrival of Mohammad Haris in the middle order, they have started to feel a change of approach, and hence the wins started following.

They will be keen to build on that winning momentum and change of approach. But Pakistan still has a few concerning issues in their combination and approach that needs to be sorted out as quickly as possible to progress forward in this T20 World Cup. Let’s see what those issues are and what 3 changes Pakistan can bring up for this most important game.

1. Better utilization of Powerplay batting

Pakistani openers have been terrible in this T20 World Cup. Despite being top-ranked T20 batters, both Babar and Rizwan have been scoring at a run-a-ball or even less. Their 30s and 40s of the same amount of balls are proving to be of no value to the team. To add to that, the fact that both of them are eating up a lot of deliveries in the powerplay is creating unwanted pressure on the middle order. With the likes of Harris and Shan Masood in good form, both Rizwan and Babar could look to play a lot faster for the benefit of the team.

2. Mohammad Haris at #3, and Nawaz to play in the lower middle order

In the match against Bangladesh, Pakistan send out Mohammad Nawaz at number three instead of an in-form Mohammad Haris. This move failed terribly. Nawaz just scored 4 of 11 balls and didn’t make any impact. Whereas Harris has been a revelation for Pakistan in the middle overs in this T20 World Cup. They should stick on to that instead of using Nawaz as a floater.

3. Shadab Khan to play the role of a floater

One person Pakistan could use as a floater instead of Nawaz is Shadab Khan. He has been timing the ball perfectly recently and has the ability to play the power game. Pakistan could use him as a floater before or between Shan Masood and Ifthikar if the situation arises. This could help them to keep the run-rate moving.