Awais Zia: “Bright future”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan opener Awais Zia believes 17-year-old batsman Muhammad Riazullah has a “bright future” ahead of him.
Riazullah is already part of Pakistan’s Under-19 team and has had a number of notable performances lately, including a sensational 106 against UAE Under-19 and a brilliant 66 not out against Japan Under-19.
Most recently, the teenager was in action in the Champions T20 Cup, but only featured in one match for the Dolphins, in which he made seven runs.
Having witnessed Riazullah’s batting, Awais sees a lot of promising signs and thinks he could become a useful asset for the Pakistan team.
“Bright future,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Pakistan team recently travelled to Australia and won the ODI series 2-1 before being battered 3-0 in the T20Is.
They then went to Zimbabwe and triumphed 2-1 in both the ODI and T20I series.
Pakistan are now in South Africa and lost the T20I series 2-0 before bouncing back to claim a 3-0 victory in the ODIs.
As for the ongoing two-Test series, the Proteas are up 1-0 after securing a two-wicket win in the 1st Test in Centurion.
The 2nd Test began on January 3 in Cape Town.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha