KARACHI: T20 World Cup-winning captain Younis Khan thinks Pakistan's top batters Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman must shift gears in the middle overs of the T20I format.
While talking to reporters, he stressed the importance of maintaining a run-rate of 8 to 9 runs per over even in the middle overs after the powerplay.
"If a team scores 200 runs, they will be in a position to save the match, a score of 170 is not sufficient anymore," he said.
"Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Rizwan will have to go to the next gear. Nowadays, more runs can be scored at a rapid pace, it is the responsibility of the players to play aggressively," he added.
On the other hand, he emphasised that the batters must bat at any position while bowlers must be ready to bowl at any moment of the game.
"The captain will have to think out of the box, and players will also have to come out of their comfort zones together.
"Every player should assist the captain; do not leave everything on one person because a plan cannot be made on just one person," he added.
It must be noted the Men in Green will kick off the Europe tour with the first T20I on Friday. The remaining two matches will also take place at Castle Avenue on Sunday and Tuesday, before the team heads to Headingley, Leeds, on Wednesday for a series of four T20Is against England.
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan
May 10: First T20I at Clontarf
May 12: Second T20I at Clontarf
May 14: Third T20I at Clontarf