Star Pakistan batter claims he asked Babar Azam to drop him and play Sarfaraz Khan
Babar and Sarfaraz (Source – Twitter)
Pakistani batter Mohammad Rizwan has claimed that he asked the head coach Saqlain Mushtaq to drop him from the home Test series against New Zealand as he was not able to score runs and didn’t deserve to play for the team. He revealed that it was him who asked the skipper Babar Azam to give a chance to Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Wicketkeeper batter Sarfaraz Ahmed marked his comeback for the national team in style as he was awarded the player of the series against the Kiwis. The 35-year-old amassed 355 runs in two Test matches at an average of 83.75, including a century in the second Test.
“You can ask the head coach Saqlain Mushtaq what I told him after the end of the England Test series. I was happy to see Sarfaraz perform because that is what I wanted. I personally thought that since I wasn’t able to perform, I didn’t deserve to play in the next series,” Rizwan told Cricket Pakistan.
With his performance, Sarfaraz has almost fixed his spot in the Test squad and it will be difficult for Rizwan to make a comeback in the Pakistani whites. Rizwan, though, remains a mainstay in ODIs and T20Is.
“Sarfaraz has been performing in domestic and deserves his chance now. So I was happy to see Sarfaraz perform because I asked for his inclusion. Whoever performs best for Pakistan deserves to play,” Rizwan added
Rizwan, further, said that he never got disappointed whenever he was dropped from the team.
“I was never hurt when I was benched during PSL in the past. I thought they were honest with the team, and it was the team’s requirement at the time to keep me on the bench,” he said.
