HOBART: Pakistan’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan addressed the press conference on Monday, and shared insights on the team’s performance in the forthcoming series.
Reflecting on their whitewash against the Aussies, the skipper highlighted the challenges faced during the series, along with their takeaways and strategies for the future.
Besides giving a nod to mistakes, the wicketkeeper batter praised the performances of the emerging talents like Jahandad Khan, Haseebullah, and Usman Khan.
"We know some of our batters are facing issues, but we still have time in T20s to improve," Rizwan said. "In the One-Day series, our openers and bowlers performed well. Babar Azam’s touch was visibly different from today’s performance."
On the bowling front, the 32-year-old praised the pacers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi for acting as a mentor for the young bowlers.
"Haris Rauf is being praised not only by me but also by the Australians. He will do well in the future," he added.
Meanwhile, with the bat, the opener expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the middle-order batters.
"We don't have enough experienced middle-order batters like Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, and Imad Wasim," Rizwan noted.
He further expressed admiration with the coach of the red-ball format, Jason Gillespie.
"This is not my decision, but Jason Gillespie is still our red-ball coach. I’m not sure what's happening behind the scenes."
Additionally, shedding light on to his decision of not playing the third T20, he stated: “As a captain, you make the first sacrifice. I discussed this with the management and players. We’re testing future stars, so I thought I should be the one to step aside."
Alongside commenting on the exceptional fielding by Hasibullah in the third fixture against Australia, the opening batter called the pitch in Sydney “conducive to Test cricket”.
"It felt like we were playing a Test match," he remarked, adding that even Australian players had noted the same. Despite the challenges, Rizwan remained optimistic, saying the team was doing everything it could to rise above the difficulties and perform well.
Nevertheless, with Pakistan scheduled to play against Zimbabwe, new talents are expected to be showcased on the field.
"We lack awareness of the game, and we're working to bring that in," he said.
Considering the forthcoming series against South Africa and Zimbabwe, the young skipper expressed confidence in the team’s performance and vowed to come out in full strength.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.- Mohammad Rizwan
