Rashid Latif: “I hope they don’t force Mohammad Rizwan or Sarfaraz Ahmed to open the innings. Let the youngsters open the innings and face the fire”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has said Mohammad Rizwan and Sarfaraz Ahmed shouldn’t be forced to open the batting during the T20 series against New Zealand.
Rizwan is likely to be preferred over Sarfaraz even though both players are in the squad as he is the national team’s go-to wicketkeeper-batsman.
Instead of them, Latif said he wants to see the younger players in the squad thrown in the deep end and “face the fire”.
“I hope they don’t force Mohammad Rizwan or Sarfaraz Ahmed to open the innings. Let the youngsters open the innings and face the fire. If they are able to handle that, then they will eventually become good players,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan will be without captain Babar Azam for the three-match T20 series as he is out of action with a fractured right thumb.
Vice-captain Shadab Khan may also miss the first T20 International as he is nursing a groin injury.
Pakistan will play three T20 Internationals and two Tests in New Zealand, with the series beginning on December 18 and concluding on January 7.