DURBAN: Pakistan’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan on Monday, expressed his eagerness to continue the winning momentum in the upcoming all-format South Africa, starting with a three-match T20I series, scheduled to run from December 10 to 14.
Rizwan, who led the green shirts to their first away series victory over Australia since 2002 in his first assignment, urged that the national team has become more proactive in adopting to different conditions as they have been on away tours since the start of November.
The wicketkeeper batter also termed the return of key players like Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi as a ‘welcome development’, which according to him, has created a fine blend of youth and experience.
“We have been on the road since last month and this is our third successive overseas tour, which has made the unit more proactive in terms of the preparations and getting used to the local conditions as soon as possible,” said Rizwan.
“The return of Babar, Naseem and Shaheen to the white-ball squads is a welcome development for the team and with a fine blend of youth and experience, we look forward to do our best against South Africa in this T20I series before the focus shifts to the other two formats,” he added.
The 32-year-old also acknowledged that the conditions in South Africa would be challenging for the touring side’s batters but, at the same time, will support their pacers – a department, Pakistan heavily rely on.
“The wickets in South Africa will challenge us but at the same time our pacers will benefit from the conditions as well. With the help of Allah, we are eager to continue the winning momentum from the last tour against Zimbabwe,” Rizwan stated.
The first T20I between Pakistan and South Africa is scheduled to be played on Tuesday at the Kingsmead Stadium here, while the second and third T20Is will take place on December 13 and 14 at the SuperSport Park, Centurion and The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, respectively.
Pakistan T20I squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)
South Africa T20I squad: Heinrich Klaasen (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Patrick Kruger, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Andile Simelane, Rassie van der Dussen
- Mohammad Rizwan
