DURBAN: Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan on Monday expressed his desire to continue the winning momentum in the upcoming South Africa across all formats, starting with a three-match T20I series scheduled to take place from 10 to December 14th.
Rizwan, who led the Green Shirts to their first away win over Australia since 2002 on their first assignment, called on the national team to become more proactive in adapting to different conditions as they have been on away tours since the start of November.
The wicketkeeper-batsman also termed the return of key players like Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi as a ‘welcome development’, which he said created a nice mix of youth and experience.
“We have been on the road since last month and this is our third consecutive trip abroad, which has made the unit more proactive in terms of preparation and adapting to local conditions as quickly as possible,” said Rizwan.
“The return of Babar, Naseem and Shaheen to the white-ball squads is a welcome development for the team and with an excellent mix of youth and experience, we hope to give our best against South Africa in this T20I series before the focus switch to the other two formats,” he added.
The 32-year-old also acknowledged that conditions in South Africa would be challenging for the touring team’s batsmen, but at the same time, he will support their pacers – a department Pakistan rely heavily on.
“The wickets in South Africa will challenge us but at the same time our pacers will also benefit from the conditions. With Allah’s help, we look forward to continuing the winning momentum from the last tour against Zimbabwe,” said Rizwan.
The first T20I between Pakistan and South Africa is scheduled to be played on Tuesday at the Kingsmead Stadium here, while the second and third T20Is will take place on December 13 and 14 at SuperSport Park, Centurion and The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg respectively.
Pakistan T20I squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and week), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (week)
South Africa T20I squad: Heinrich Klaasen (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Patrick Kruger, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Andile Simelane, Rassie van der Dussen
