'You can't be England. They have 10 attacking batsmen, you don't even have 4' | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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'You can't be England. They have 10 attacking batsmen, you don't even have 4': Ex-captain on Pakistan's T20 approach

Nov 15, 2022 01:48 PM IST

Pakistan and India's conservative approach especially at the top of the order have coped with a lot of criticism in the recently concluded T20 World Cup but Salman Butt says it is not possible for Pakistan to bat like England, simply because the current World Champions have a lot of depth in batting which the Babar Azam-led side doesn't have.

With the kind of success that England have had in white-ball cricket in the last five-six years with their fearless attacking brand of cricket, fans and experts have started to stresss on the need to change the tactics of other teams and adapt to the same attacking brand of cricket to achieve results in T20 cricket. The Jos Buttler-led England side beat India in the semi-final quite comprehensively by 10 wickets and then registered another easy win over Pakistan in the final to win their second T20 World Cup title, becoming the first team to be reigning ODI and T20 World champions. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, however, doesn't believe teams should start emulating England's style blindly. The former opener said the management needs to look at their strength before changing the approach.

England's Ben Stokes celebrates their win in the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup final(AFP)
England's Ben Stokes celebrates their win in the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup final(AFP)

Pakistan and India's conservative approach especially at the top of the order have coped with a lot of criticism in the recently concluded T20 World Cup but Salman Butt says it is not possible for Pakistan to bat like England, simply because the current World Champions have a lot of depth in batting which the Babar Azam-led side doesn't have.

Also Read | Utter nonsense to keep India favourites for 2023 ODI World Cup: Ex-Eng captain

"With the kind of performances that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have put up over a period of time, I don't think they should be replaced. You can't make a change for the sake of changing something. It's about ideas and the brand of cricket. But even if you change the brand of cricket then where will you go? Your cricket is different. You can't be England. They are batting heavy, you are bowling heavy. England play a fearless attacking brand of cricket because they have 10 batters but you don't even have four. Then how can you play in a manner that puts pressure on Shadab and Nawaz every now and then? With your middle order not standing up (to the occasion) consistently and too many changes in the batting order, it is not possible (to play that way). You need batters who are solid and perform consistently in the middle order to play fearless cricket and create a brand which is batting-heavy because you are not," Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Talking about India, Butt said their batting is not the problem. The issue is with their bowling as opponents back themselves to chase 180 against them.

"India's bowing is such that most teams have a fair chance of chasing 170-180 against them. Without Bumrah they are not the same bowling side. Similarly, if you take out Babar and Rizwan then Pakistan are not the same force in batting. We are not ready to accept that fact. Babar and Rizwan have played so well but we are still after them," he added.

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