Mohammad Amir blames Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan for not coming out their comfort zones

Former Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir has made a scathing attack on Pakistan openers, saying they are willing to get out of their comfort zone and also blamed former captain and coach Misbah-ul-Haq for dropping Fakhar Zaman from the opening slot.

Fakhar is yet to play a single match in the tournament.

“Yeh openers wala start huya tha jab Misbah bhai the, Rizwan ko uthake open karwa di thi aur Fakhar jaisa banda, jo iss time pe Pakistan ka best T20 opener hai, uspe churi pheri (Rizwan started opening when Misbah-ul-Haq was coach and dropped Fakhar Zaman to No 3, who was Pakistan’s best T20I opener),” Amir told 24 News HD.

“Acha player har jagah perform karta hai. Aapne, apna jagah bachane kiliye…main toh No.5 main nehi khel sakta air powerplay use karna hai…Fakhar ko bali ka bakra bana diya. Dono openers ka wohi hai, limited hain na, aur comfort zone he bahar nehi aa rahe hai (A good player can bat anywhere. But Rizwan can’t bat at No5 so they made Fakhar a scapegoat. Both the openers have their limitations as openers and they don’t want to come out of their comfort zone,” he said.

Amir gave the example of England’s Liam Livingstone and South Africa’s Aiden Markram, who were top order batters but are now excelling in the middle-order.

“Liam Livingstone shuru se open kar raha tha county main. Unko kaha tha ki bhai aapka role chaiye middle order main, agar aap kar sakte ho toh you can fit in. Woh acha player tha, but he managed. Abhi dekhiye, sabse bara chakka marta hain. Markram, white-ball main opener tha unko, no.4 main abhi perform kar raha hai (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,” said Amir.

Pakistan will play the Netherlands at Perth in a must-win game on Sunday.