Mohammad Rizwan, the wicketkeeper-batsman for Pakistan, has said that he personally requested that Sarfaraz Ahmed replace him in the just-finished home Test series against New Zealand.
In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Rizwan said that his poor performance with the bat during the home Test series against England, in which Pakistan’s side was thrashed, made him unworthy of his spot in the starting XI.
In the three-match series, Rizwan scored 141 runs in six innings at an average of 23.50, however, he failed to reach the fifty-point mark once.
“You can ask the head coach Saqlain Mushtaq what I told him at the completion of the England Test series,” said Rizwan, “I was glad to see Sarfaraz succeed since that is what I wanted. Personally, I believed that because I was unable to perform, I did not deserve to participate in the following series.
According to certain players, “every player passes through this phase, and you can’t sit on the bench based on a few failures.”
Rizwan went on to say that Sarfaraz deserved his spot on the team based on his local accomplishments.
“I went to the coach and captain personally and told them that you may dismiss me since I haven’t performed. “This talk was seen by two players,” he claimed.
Sarfaraz has been entertaining audiences at home and now gets an opportunity to prove himself. I requested Sarfaraz’s participation, therefore I was pleased to watch him play. Whoever represents Pakistan the best deserves to play,” he said.
Sarfaraz was the leading scorer in the New Zealand series with 335 runs scored at an astounding average of 83.75 in the two Test matches. After scoring a hundred-and-a-half-century against New Zealand in the second Test, he was also named Player of the Series.
Rizwan also stated that he is never demotivated after being dismissed from an international or domestic team. He used an example from his time with the Karachi Kings, where he had to sit out most of the games because Chadwick Walton was favored over him.
“I was never hurt when I was benched in the past during PSL. “I believed they were truthful with the team, and it was the team’s necessity at the moment to keep me on the bench,” he explained.
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