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Pakistan will need a new opening combination in ODI cricket after Saim Ayub was ruled out of the upcoming tri-series and the Champions Trophy 2025. There are strong indications that Babar Azam will don the new role as an opener.
Ayub had a magnificent start to his ODI career and has been impressive in T20I cricket as well. In fact, Ayub was the player of the series in Pakistan’s last ODI rubber which they won 3-0 in South Africa. The left-handed opener smashed two hundreds in three games. Overall, he amassed 515 runs in nine ODIs in his short career.
He had Abdullah Shafique for company at the top who has also been dropped after registering three ducks in a row against South Africa. Ayub hurt his leg in the second Test in South Africa and was flown to London for surgery. He is yet to fully recover from the injury and is expected to take a few more weeks.
Thus, Fakhar Zaman was recalled for the Champions Trophy along with the preceding tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa. Babar is likely to stride out with Zaman at the top of the order. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan strongly hinted at the same when he cheekily said, ‘King kar lega’ when asked about the opening combination.
“Iske jawaab mein woh baat ki thi na, ‘King kar lega’.” (The answer is, there was a line ‘King will do it’.),” Mohammad Rizwan was quoted saying in the press conference ahead of the tri-series.
The phrase ‘King kar lega’ became very famous through a podcast in which Hasan Ali was a guest and repeated the phrase multiple times while referencing Babar Azam.
The former Pakistan skipper is a regular No. 3 and has a stellar record at that spot, averaging 60.17 (5416 runs with 19 centuries) in the 50-over format. He has opened only twice and has mustered 26 runs. Both of those outings came against England back in 2015. Hence, it’ll be interesting to see if Pakistan change Babar’s spot where he has been so successful.
Saud Shakeel is another option for Pakistan but he has never opened in the 50-over format. The left-hander last featured in the 2023 World Cup where he made 241 runs in seven innings at a strike-rate of 97.96.
We have the best choice of players for Champions Trophy: Rizwan
Rizwan believes that the current squad is the best choice of players that Pakistan could assemble for the Champions Trophy. He added that the upcoming tri-series will act as the best preparation for the eight-team ICC event. Pakistan’s recent form in ODI cricket has been brilliant. They won all their series in 2024, beating Australia 2-1, Zimbabwe 2-1 and South Africa 3-0.
“We have the best choice of players, so it is an important series and the best preparation for the bigger event, the Champions Trophy,” Rizwan added.
Pakistan face New Zealand on the 8th of February to kickstart the tri-series which also involves South Africa. Their first Champions Trophy game is scheduled to be played on the 19th of February against New Zealand in Karachi.
