Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in a record run chase in their second ODI World Cup 2023 game. Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique struck twin centuries in the game and hunted down a target of 345 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Pakistan have won two in two matches in the ODI World Cup so far and will be playing India in their next game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Speaking about the team’s batting, former India batter Sunil Gavaskar said that Rizwan and Shafique scoring centuries augur well for the Pakistan side as they do not have to depend on Babar Azam anymore.
Babar has had two poor outings in the tournament, scoring 5 and 10 respectively in the first two matches.
“When you are chasing 350 runs, it takes a lot. They also lost a couple of early wickets in the game. I think more than anything else, I mean, we have all known about what Rizwan can do. But Abdullah Shafique, he looked like a Test batter. The way he anchored the innings with Rizwan, it was great,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports ahead of India vs Pakistan.
Gavaskar further added that it augurs well for Babar Azam as well as he would not be under a lot of pressure to score runs all the time.
“More than anything else, Pakistan would have realised that they do not have to depend on Babar. And if Babar fails, there are other batters who are there to score the runs. And I think that is such an important thing for Babar himself because the pressure will not be on him that he has to score all the time,” Gavaskar concluded.
