Pakistan batter Mohammad Rizwan on Friday said players who play for the team are likely to go far in their career rather than cricketers who look to keep their place in the team. Rizwan provided the example of Virat Kohli and said players who look at averages remain average players.
Rizwan has been one of the mainstays of Pakistan batting line-up, and has batted in different places in different formats according to the needs of his country. In T20 cricket, the right-hand batter opens along with Babar Azam and has forged quite a strong understanding with his opening partner. In ODI cricket, Rizwan bats at number 4 and look to anchor the innings.
In an interview with CricBuzz, he was asked about how he adjusts to the different roles in different formats.
Rizwan said, “Firstly the teams that you are representing keep that [role] in front and if you think of yourself in that case… like players who think like let me save myself, he won’t go far.
“Those players who look at averages are average players. If someone is performing it will be there in the stats for people to see, like say India’s Virat Kohli, he is getting his average higher but he is not focusing on that because average players looks at average and big players will look at the team and the situation and my focus remains on what is the requirement of the team.
“The team says Rizwan look at board and play accordingly. I maintain the same thing in my own life too but it is not easy. In T20 playing the new ball and in ODI go after 25 overs when the ball is a bit old that is not easy and it is a mind game,” Rizwan said.