A target of 140 would have made life difficult for Babar, says Mashrafe

Pakistan stalwart Babar Azam is one of the most prolific batters at the moment in cricket but is often criticised for his low strike-rates in T20 cricket.

Recently he was demoted to number three in the Pakistan's T20I batting line-up with powerplay maximiser Saim Ayub taking his place as the opener of the team.

On Tuesday, Babar rescued Rangpur Riders from 39 for six and helped them to an unlikely victory against Sylhet Strikers. He anchored the chase well by a well-composed fifty. 

Required run rate was never an issue for him and Rangpur because the target was 121. After the match, Sylhet captain Mashrafe Mortaza claimed that a target around 140 would have made Babar's job difficult. 

"It was an ideal match for Babar," Mashrafe told reporters. "It's easy for him to go run-a-ball, he is a master of that. It would have been difficult for him if the target had been 140."

Mashrafe said Babar is not someone who can hit right from the get-go and admitted that his bowlers failed to put pressure on him and his team.

"Chasing 140 instead of a run-a-ball 120 is a different ball game. If we could squeeze a few cheap overs in, we would be able to put pressure on him. Babar is not someone who can smash it and win matches. So we could not pose the challenge. If we blocked his strike rotation, he had to go big and chances of mistakes would increase. But we couldn't apply the pressure," Mashrafe said.