PAK vs HK: "I Will Be Very Honest. No Bowler From This Group Can Replace Shaheen Afridi"- Mohammad Rizwan's Candid Answer To Reporter- Watch

Pakistan Cricket Team is without the services of Shaheen Afridi who is out of the tourney with a knee injury. His absence was a huge blow as he is not only a wicket-taker option but a match-winning bowler. PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) had drafted Naseem Shah, the 19-year-old fast bowler who has been quite impressive. He had gotten rid of KL Rahul & Suryakumar Yadav and was bowling quite express pace.

Pakistan Cricket Team would have mixed feelings, as earlier India duped them whereas they blanked Hong Kong by 155 runs. One of the architects of the batting lineup was Mohammad Rizwan who made sure that he stays till the end of the innings as he scored 78 runs in 55 balls. In T20I Cricket, one batter has to score 60+ runs so that the other batters can play around him.

Mohammad Rizwan on Shaheen Afridi

Mohammad Rizwan, the wicket-keeper batter was asked whether which bowler can replace Shaheen Afridi. “I’ve talked to the bowlers before. I will be very honest here, no bowler from this group can replace Shaheen. This is my honest answer,” Rizwan said in the post-match press conference.

“The way he (Shaheen) has performed in the past 1-2 years, no bowler can come into the side and fill his shoes. But, we can get another Shaheen and this is an opportunity for our other fast bowlers. The way Naseem and Dahani have performed.. and Haris is already a part of the side, so we are hopeful,” said the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter.

Watch: Pakistani wicket-keeper batter in Post Match Press Conference

Babar Azam struggling to find a rhythm

Babar Azam who is often recognized as King Babar is running out of time.  The Skipper will need to pull up his socks and start from scratch again as he is the pillar of the batting lineup of Pakistan. His dismissal means that Pakistan’s batting morale is down. Rizwan is not someone who can attack shots easily like Babar Azam as Babar can switch change gears very quickly.

Babar Azam is not reading the pitch properly and that’s the reason behind his fall of wicket. The pitch, no doubt was a bit tacky against Hong Kong as he scored 9 runs out of 8 balls; but giving reasons is not the solution for Pakistan’s Captain.

Pakistan’s next match is against their arch-rivals India which once again tests his character. The openers need to have absolute clarity of role as only one of them needs to take the opposition down as both of them playing shots is quite suicidal.

Also Read: Pakistan vs Hong Kong: ” The Ball Was Keeping Low”- Mohammad Rizwan Defends Pakistan’s Slow Start Against Hong Kong