Mohammad Rizwan: “You can say that it [breaking the opening pair] has hurt Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Rizwan, the first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman, conceded that breaking up his opening partnership with Babar Azam in T20Is “has hurt Pakistan.”
Azam and Rizwan formed a formidable alliance at the top of the order as they regularly scored runs and led the men in green to victory.
However, in the recent five-match T20I series against New Zealand, Rizwan was paired up with young batting sensation Saim Ayub, while Azam was pushed down to the number three spot.
When asked about the new arrangements, the 31-year-old admitted that he felt it was a mistake to separate him and Azam.
“You can say that it [breaking the opening pair] has hurt Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Rizwan is now captaining the Multan Sultans in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Azam is in charge of the Peshawar Zalmi.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mehran Mumtaz, Luke Wood, Sufiyan Muqeem, Waqar Salamkheil, Arshad Iqbal, Gus Atkinson, Shamar Joseph
Multan Sultans Squad for PSL 9: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Iftikhar Ahmed, David Willey, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Dawid Malan, Abbas Afridi, Reeza Hendricks, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Khan, Mohammad Ali, Faisal Akram, Yasir Khan, Chris Jordan, Aftab Ibrahim, Johnson Charles, Mohammad Shehzad