Mohammad Rizwan: “I personally thought that since I wasn’t able to perform, I didn’t deserve to play in the next series. I went to the coach and captain myself and told them that you can drop me because I haven’t performed”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan said he told former head coach Saqlain Mushtaq to drop him and pick Sarfaraz Ahmed instead.
Rizwan noted that he had not been doing well in Test cricket and felt that he didn’t deserve to be in the team for the two-match series against New Zealand. To prove he isn’t lying, the 30-year-old revealed that two other players witnessed the conversation.
Sarfaraz was subsequently selected and fared extremely well as he scored 335 runs, which included a hundred and three half-centuries, at an average of 83.75.
“I personally thought that since I wasn’t able to perform, I didn’t deserve to play in the next series. I went to the coach and captain myself and told them that you can drop me because I haven’t performed. Two players are witnesses to this conversation,” Rizwan told Cricket Pakistan.
The Peshawar native is now playing for Pakistan in their five-match ODI series against New Zealand, which the men in green lead 2-0.
Rizwan has enjoyed great success with the bat as he has made scores of 42 not out and 54 not out.
The third ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand will be held on Wednesday in Karachi.
Pakistan squad for ODI series against New Zealand: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Usama Mir