Mickey Arthur: “He’s matured. He’s a player who has matured incredibly since I left”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, admitted that wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has matured so much since he left as head coach.
Arthur coached the men in green from 2016 to 2019 and in the four years that have passed, he praised Rizwan for becoming a totally different cricketer and one that has achieved great success.
The 31-year-old from Peshawar has become Pakistan’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman and has been one of the most consistent run-scorers, especially in T20Is.
Most recently, he featured in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, where he struck an unbeaten 50 after coming on as a concussion substitute for Sarfaraz Ahmed in the second Test in Colombo.
“He’s matured. He’s a player who has matured incredibly since I left,” Arthur was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, which will be played in Sri Lanka from August 22 to 26.
After that, they will take part in the Asia Cup, which will be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for Afghanistan ODI Series and 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr