‘None of our bowlers can make up for Shaheen’s absence’ claims Rizwan

SHARJAH: Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan made an important statement that none of Pakistan’s current pacemakers can make up for the absence of ace Shaheen Shah Afridi.

After his anchor hit and 78-run unbeaten run against Hong Kong, Rizwan spoke to the media. In response to a question about Shaheen’s absence from the upcoming 2022 Asian Cup, he commented that no bowler could replace the pacemaker ace.

“None of these bowlers can make up for Shaheen’s absence, but anyone can become Shaheen on any given day,” Rizwan said.

Man of the match for Pakistan in a must-win clash against Hong Kong, Rizwan also weighed in on the early stages of the game, acknowledging that batsmen found it difficult to get going initially.

“It was tough at first, but after we got the hang of it, we did pretty well,” Rizwan said.

The right-handed batsman, who paved the way for Pakistan in their most recent match against India on Sunday, went on to compare every game against India to a final match as he discussed the Greenshirts’ upcoming tense encounter with their bitter rivals on 4 September.
.

“Every match against India is very challenging like a final.
It is a pressure game and it is also on the Indian players”, he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan defeated Hong Kong by a massive margin of 155 runs and qualified for the ongoing 2022 Asian Cup Super Fours.

The Green Shirts will now face arch-rivals India in an anticipated clash on September 4.

READ: Pakistan thrashed Hong Kong by 155 runs to book Super 4 spot in Asia Cup