Pakistan are set to start a five-match T20I series against New Zealand in New Zealand from January 12. There have been reports that under the new regime of Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan (new captain and vice-captain respectively), Pakistan are set to try out a new opening combination.

According to reports, young left-hander Saim Ayub might partner Rizwan at the top with former captain Babar moving down the order. Ramiz Raja, former chair of the PCB, however, feels that it would be a mistake to split up a settled opening combination.

Speaking to CricWick, Raja said: “I wouldn’t agree [with the decision of splitting Babar and Rizwan]. Pundits across the international fraternity take the name of Babar and Rizwan together as an opening pair. That’s because we have been consistent.

“From the pool we had available, we picked these two. If you are averaging 40-45 with a strike rate of 128-130, and you’re providing starts, and are fighting it out in the big games, I believe there’s not much to be gained by changing things up.”

Raja said that Pakistan can’t afford to go into the 2024 T20 World Cup in an experimental state. “You can’t go into a World Cup in an experimental stage, particularly if you don’t have options,” Raja said.

“If you have created options, then great. I still believe big teams have a solid opening pair, a solid wicketkeeper, and a solid opening bowling pair. In 2021, we won all the ICC awards – the T20 player of the year (Mohammad Rizwan), the [men’s] Cricketer of the Year Shaheen Afridi. So my point is, please stick with these players a bit more. If they were on top of the world then, why can’t they do it now?”

Raja warned that this is a delicate time in Pakistan cricket, given the paradigm shift in the management, including the coaching staff and the leadership group, and said that Pakistan should not be making unnecessary changes under such circumstances.

“This is a ‘handle with care’ phase we are going through. I don’t know how long this board will remain, what will happen to the players after that, how long this management remains.

“In this turbulent environment, the less meddling we do, the better it will be.”