'Furious' Mohammad Rizwan attacks Babar Azam for dropping 'crucial catches' against Australia
Published - 16 Nov 2024, 08:26 PM | Updated - 16 Nov 2024, 08:30 PM
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Pakistan National Cricket Team white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan slammed his teammates, including Babar Azam, for sloppy fielding in the second T20I against Australia.
Pakistan players were very poor on the field in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, November 16, and this left Mohammad Rizwan angry.
Pakistan players display a horror show on the field vs Australia
Pakistan National Cricket Team players are not regarded as the best fielders in the world and often face criticism for their sloppy work on the field.
The awfulness of the Pakistan players on the field was on full display in the second T20I against the Aussies and the dropped catches to go with misfields cost them the match.
In the first over of the match, Naseem Shah made a mess of a simple catch and dropped the explosive batter Jake Fraser-McGurk. Things only got worse from there on as Salman Agha put Marcus Stoinis down off Haris Rauf, while Shaheen Afridi gave a lifeline to Glenn Maxwell off Sufiyan Muqeem in the eighth over.
Haris Rauf then made a mess of an effort on the field off Naseem Shah that went for four, while Babar Azam made a massive blunder as he dropped Tim David.
If you drop crucial catches at crucial times, it will cost you always - Mohammad Rizwan
Mohammad Rizwan's Pakistan restricted Australia to 147/9 in the first innings, thanks to Haris Rauf, Abbas Afridi, and Sufiyan Muqeem's brilliant bowling performances. Chasing the total, Usman Khan (52) and Irfan Khan (37) kept Pakistan in the game, but they eventually lost the match by 13 runs.
Speaking after the match, skipper Mohammad Rizwan expressed his delight over the performance of the bowlers, but lashed out at the fielding efforts of the players. He said:
"Bowlers bowled really well but If you drop crucial catches at crucial times, it will cost you always. Australia in Australia isn't an easy team. If you give them chances like that and you have to get 16 wickets (due to the drops), it won't be easy for any team. We all know that the pitch wasn't easy to bat on, so the catches were crucial."
Mohammad Rizwan further lauded Haris Rauf for shining bright in the ongoing white-ball series against Australia. Mohammad Rizwan stated:
"Haris loves Australia because of the pace and bounce. Not sure about the changes for the third game. Will see what the situation demands."
"Everytime I turned to Johnson tonight, he got a pole" - Josh Inglis
The Australia skipper Josh Inglis was a happy camper after registering the series win over the Men In Green. He lauded his batters as well as bowlers and gave a special mention to Spencer Johnson for picking up a 5-wicket haul. He elaborated:
"We started really well. Boys at the top got us to a flier. It was tough through the middle as they adapted to conditions really well, bowled cutters and into the wicket. We thought we were there and thereabout. I thought the way the bowlers went about it was brilliant. There's so many options in this team I can go to.
"Everytime I turned to Johnson tonight, he got a pole. Really happy for him. The way they played tonight was really good (the two openers). Put their bowlers under pressure and got us off to a flier. I need to sleep - it's tough work this captaincy."
