Conditions have helped bowlers, but want to prove our mettle as a batting unit, says Rizwan

Perth, Nov 13 (IANS) Ahead of Pakistan kick-starting their three-match T20I series against Australia, skipper Mohammad Rizwan said despite the conditions helping bowlers on their tour so far, the visitors are keen to prove their mettle as a batting unit. Pakistan go into the T20I series on the back of beating Australia 2-1 in ODIs, their first series win coming in the country after 22 years. Now Rizwan is all set to become the 12th man to lead Pakistan in T20Is.

“We are confident after beating Australia in the ODI series but international cricket is always challenging so we aim to do things as better as we can going into this T20I series against Australia,” said Rizwan in a statement ahead of the series opener in Brisbane.

“We have determined the roles of various players in the team and look forward to executing our best plans not just in this series but also in the upcoming white-ball fixtures against Zimbabwe and South Africa. My intent is to keep everyone in the group involved and positive about the game. Of course, the conditions have helped the bowlers on this tour so far but we also want to prove our mettle as a batting unit and I look forward to an exciting contest in the three matches,” said Rizwan.

For the T20I series, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufiyan Moqim, and Usman Khan have linked up with Pakistan. Pakistan last played a T20I series in Australia in November 2019, which the hosts won 2-0 after the opening game was washed out.

Josh Inglis, Australia’s captain for the T20I series, felt it was unfair to label the squad as a ‘B’ team, especially with criticism after the ODI series defeat coming on the lines of them being too much focused on the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

“I don’t think it’s very fair to say that, but we know how challenging the schedule is. There’s always a series overlapping where players are used (in different) formats. There are decisions to be made. That’s above my pay grade, thankfully. There were big losses (in the ODI series), and typically not something that we’re very used to.”

“You’ve got to be honest, that batting group didn’t score enough runs and that’s on us to rectify that this week. Everyone’s got their methods and how they go about it. It’s just about bringing them up this week, and let’s forget about what’s happened before. Just attack it head-on and keep backing yourself … (but) we’ve seen how good a side this (Pakistan) team is and we don’t take any team we come against lightly,” he said.

–IANS

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