PCB chairman Raja surprised by talks of separating Babar-Rizwan duo

With many cricket fans calling for Pakistan's opening pair (Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan) in T20Is to be changed, PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja expressed his surprise and called them his country's 'best-ever pair'. Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, the former cricketer disagreed on changing the team's opening pair and explained that in the past, 'more than ten pairs were tried' and it didn't do any good.

"People say we play old-style T20, I disagree, our team is very good", he said.

"Pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan is our best-ever pair, I am surprised that people want to separate them. In the past, more than ten pairs were tried and people used to say that the Pakistan team did not have a good pair, now that we have a great pair of openers, people discuss what binds our fantastic openers together", he further added.

The T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin on 16 October and will be held in Australia. Pakistan will face India in their Super 12 opener and Raja predicted it to be a 'tough game'. Pakistan also faced India in their opener in last year's T20 World Cup, and sealed a famous win after heroics from Shaheen Shah Afridi.

"Pressure is in every game. Pakistan team was not given much importance in the last World Cup, but we won five matches. We have to give credit to this team, this team does not disappoint. Their achievements are very high. When the winning graph is seventy-five percent, it means you are making less mistakes. Consistency in performance every day is not easy, it is a tough game", the 60-year-old said.

Pakistan will be aiming for a good showing in the T20 World Cup, after disappointment in this year's Asia Cup where they lost to Sri Lanka in the final. Also, they recently lost to England (3-4) in a seven-match T20I series, held at home.