Indian legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirements from T20is. Both are known for their aggressive approach and so both have scored 4K plus runs in T20is. India won the world cup after 11 years and so on this auspicious day both announced their retirements.
Rohit Sharma have incredible record in t20is he have scored 5 centuries and smashed 400 sixes which is quite impressive and this shows why he is the greatest batsmen of all time. Virat Kohli also have a lot of potential to score runs through aggressive approach in IPL we all have witnessed and in T20is he always played a supporting role for team and stood as a pillar just like we saw in the final.
Rashid Latif bangs on Babar Azam
T20 format needs aggression and timing hand in hand, player should shift their momentum more towards aggression then only strike rate will increase. Above 140 strike rate should be their if the batsmen is playing in top order they initiate the game and in powerplay they boost up the innings by smashing shots which Rohit Sharma did post 2022 T20 World Cup he brought change in his approach and in 2023 World Cup we saw Rohit Sharma 2.0 which was very suprising as he attacked the bowlers and dominated the World Cup. Even Virat Kohli though he comes at No3 but his aggression is about next level. Virat Kohli stood like a pillar always when team needs him, even Virat Kohli also play with above 140 strike rate. With this former Pakistan player Rashid Latif criticize Babar Azam for his slow strike rate and not having any aggressive approach. Many experts have raised their concerns about Babar Azam regarding his strike rate that he always stay in between 125-130 which is very poor and not even above average. Rashid Latif said:
“If Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli can change their approach in T20Is, then why can’t Babar Azam? I would like to cite Rohit Sharma’s example. You saw how he evolved his game in the 50-over format. He has made himself a role model. In this year’s IPL, he had close to 140 strike rate. If he can change his game, everyone can. He did not do this overnight, he had to work on his game. India showed they can do this. This is not a problem of the player but a problem of the ones who make them play.”
“I would give Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan five amatches to change their batting approach in T20Is and if they won’t, then there should be no place in the team for them,” stated Latif.
Pakistan was knocked out of the World Cup in 2023 and even T20 World Cup 2024 Babar Azam again came in limelight but this time all are concerned about his captaincy that he is not up to the mark and failed to manage the team. Rashid Latif took a dig on Babar’s captaincy:
“Babar Azam shouldn’t have been removed as captain after the ODI World Cup in India. Shaheen came in to replace him. But Babar’s second tenure as captain was weak. Babar looked weak. This is not the way team selection should be done. Babar didn’t fight ( in the T20 World Cup). His biggest mistake was accepting the captaincy again. If he continues as captain, it will be an even bigger mistake,” Latif was quoted as saying by TOI.