Rizwan ‘not happy’ with new batting spot but remains committed to team’s cause

KARACHI: Mohammad Rizwan has recently emerged as an able finisher for Pakistan in the One-day International format, wrapping up the side’s successful chases in the first two matches of the ongoing five-match series against New Zealand. The right-hander, however, is not happy with his new batting position.

The change, which according to the batter had been made by the captain and coach, has reaped fruit so far. Having been shifted a spot lower in the batting order to number five, Rizwan stayed unbeaten to take Pakistan across the finish line against the Black Caps with quickfire contributions of 42 and 54 to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

“Personally, I’m not happy with playing at number five and I’d prefer playing at four,” Rizwan said during a press conference ahead of the teams’ practice sessions here at the National Stadium on Monday. “But that’s not important. It’s not necessary for me to get what I want.”

The 30-year-old said he wanted to stay allegiant with his captain and coach and that he did not plan to express his concerns to the team management.

“Whatever the captain and coach think is right, they will do it,” he said. “I’ve made many sacrifices in the past and I am ready to make more according to what’s required by the coach and captain.

“I play at number four thro­ughout my domestic and club career. For Pakistan, in fact, I’ve played at number eight as well.

“But that doesn’t mean that I’ll demand playing at my favourite position that from the coach. According to whatever suits them I’ll try to play accordingly.”

Pakistan are now in a solid position to take an unassailable lead in the one-day series as it shifts from Rawalpindi to Karachi but letting go of a 2-0 advantage in the recent five-match T20 series will play on the hosts’ minds when they take on the visitors in the third match here on Wednesday.

Rizwan believed the national side may assess their past performances but cannot afford to dwell on them. The batter said he and has team-mates would rather try to do well with the upcoming challenges.

“Every match is important for us,” he said. “We prefer forgetting what happened in the past whether we have done well or not, because conditions were different, the requirements were different at the Pindi Stadium.

“Over here [in Karachi], different things are going to happen, so it’s about moving on from the past after assessing our performances and trying to win what’s at hand.”

Rizwan said Pakistan were adapting to the changes the modern game is going through and that the batters eye big scores in every match. The Peshawar-born batter, however, was wary of the factors that conditions bring into play.

“Pitches can be different at times,” he said. “In the PSL, at Pindi we saw targets of 240-250 being chased but that changed once we switched to the international standard.

“Our focus is on the fact that conditions should assessed. According to how one-day cricket has changed, we are trying to score 300-350 but it is also true that conditions come into play. In Karachi only we both lost and won matches at 260-270 [in the previous series].”