Islamabad, 9 Feb 2023 (GNP): Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman, Mohammad Rizwan, requested the team management to exclude him from the recent Test series against New Zealand held at home and to play the former captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, instead.
In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Rizwan stated that he did not deserve a spot in the starting lineup after his poor performance with the bat during the home Test series against England, which resulted in a clean sweep for the opposition.
During the three-match Test series, Rizwan accumulated 141 runs in six innings with an average of 23.50 and could not reach a score of fifty in a single inning.
Rizwan shared, You can ask head coach Saqlain Mushtaq what he said to him after the end of the England Test series. He was thrilled to see Sarfaraz perform. He believed that he didn’t deserve to play in the next series since he wasn’t delivering good results.
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However, Rizwan noted that some players argued that every Player experiences a dip in form and that a few failures shouldn’t result in sitting on the bench. He said that Sarfaraz deserved a spot in the team due to his strong performances in domestic cricket.
Rizwan stated he approached the coach and captain and told them they could drop him because he had not performed well. Two other players were present during this conversation.
Sarfaraz’s performance in the two Tests was outstanding, scoring 335 runs at an impressive average of 83.75 and being the leading run-scorer in the series against New Zealand. He was awarded the Player of the Series due to his century and half-century in the second Test against New Zealand.
Rizwan also spoke about how he always keeps motivated even when dropped from an international or domestic team. He used his experience with the Karachi Kings as an example, where he had to sit out for most of the matches as the team preferred Chadwick Walton over him.
Rizwan shared he was never upset when he was not included in the playing lineup during previous Pakistan Super League seasons. He understood that the team was being honest and it was simply a matter of needing to make changes for the team’s benefit at that time.”