Mohammad Rizwan hopes to re-cultivate good old team culture
Mohammad Rizwan will be facing his first major test during the next month’s Australia tour after being appointed as Pakan’s white-ball captain on Sunday.
The 32-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman will take the wheel when Pakan play six limited overs matches in Australia, including three ODIs and three T20Is starting November 4.
The 32-year-old, who replaced Babar Azam as the captain, has hoped to help the team regain their momentum.
“One of my wishes is to see the Pakan team in the same kind of atmosphere that we had a couple of years ago. We all were with each other at any stage whether things were working for us or not. Because of that, a lot of things worked in our favour back then. The same things are present now also. But the difference is that we have more young talent along with seniors and we wish that we all as a team gel together. It’s a bit difficult when the seniors are playing and when the young lot comes and takes time to understand things. I guess during the Australia series, we will regain the same momentum which we had earlier,” Rizwan told PCB’s official social media channel.
The last two years have seen Pakan’s white-ball teams facing group stage exits in the ODI World Cup in India and the T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies. It also saw Babar Azam resign from the white-ball captaincy twice with the latest announcement coming earlier this month.
🗣️ @iMRizwanPak shares his thoughts on being appointed Pakan’s white-ball captain, expressing his commitment to fulfilling this responsibility and taking the team forward 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/SzroybEGKv
— Pakan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 28, 2024
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Rizwan, who had earlier been Pakan’s vice-captain under Azam, also spoke about his ideology as a captain.
“A captain is as good as the strength his team has, whether it be bowling or batting. And the quality of a good captain is to bring the whole team together and who to call on at crucial moments. When the whole team is together, the whole team is visible and it’s not about any one individual or captain. I hope we will see young talent coupled with senior players giving their best for Pakan. For me, all individuals in the team are captains. It’s just one thing that I will be tossing the coin and signing the team sheet,” said Rizwan.
Pakan have never won an ODI series in Australia. Their last series in Australia resulted in a 1-4 loss against the hosts in 2017. The team has also never won a T20I series in Australia with a 0-2 loss against the hosts in 2019 being the latest.
Apart from the Australia series, Rizwan has set his sights on winning events like Champions Trophy in Pakan next year, the 2026 T20I World Cup in India and Sri Lanka and the 2028 LA Olympics.
“Last time when we played Test series there, we lost very close margins and we had a chance in every match. It’s not like that we cannot win against Australia because we have not defeated them ever in a series in Australia. Things will change and we are going there with an aim to win. Second thing is that we have been losing in semis or finals in big events. There is the Champions Trophy coming in Pakan as well the World Cup in India. So it’s a huge opportunity for us to keep them in our vision and prepare keeping these events in mind. The LA Olympics 2028 is also one of my targets,” signed off Rizwan.
