Inzamam ul Haq worried about Pakistan's vulnerable middle order

Pakistan have been on a roll in South Africa. They won the ODI series 2-1 before taking an early lead in the T20I series. However, the Proteas bounced back in the second game and levelled the series 1-1. With two games remaining, teams need to win both matches to clinch the series. While Pakistan have done well with the bat, most of the runs have come from the top order.

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Fakhar Zaman scored two centuries in the ODI series while Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq and Mohammad Rizwan also performed well. However, everytime Pakistan needed their middle order to step up, they were left disappointed. Highlighting the same, former Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul Haq expressed his concerns over the lack of runs from the middle order.

"Pakistan have been very lucky that all three top-order batsmen – Babar , Fakhar , and Imam <-ul-Haq> scored runs in the ODIs against South Africa. But there is no one after them, who has played some notable knocks. The same is happening in the T20 that after two to three top-order batsmen, there is no support from the rest of the batting lineup. It is not possible that your top order will score runs in every match. You need to have a strong middle order if you want your team to perform with consistency." Inzamam-ul-Haq said on his YouTube channel.

Earlier, former Pakistan cricketer Aqib Javed requested the Pakistan management to manage the workload of Shaheen Afridi and now Inzamam ul Haq has also stressed on the same. Haq said that the Afridi needs some rest and the management should rotate him in the upcoming games.

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"He (Shaheen Afridi) is playing continuously in all the formats. He is a human being, and I think his body is somewhat weary. Hence, Pakistan will have to adopt a rotation policy as it is not possible to always play all the players in all the matches," Inzamam observed.

The third T20I between South Africa and Pakistan will be played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion today.