Former wicket-keeper Rashid Latif has attributed the historic victory of Pakistan in the ODI series against Australia to the leadership of newly-appointed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan.
Rizwan took over the captaincy of Pakistan’s white-ball cricket team after Babar Azam stepped down from the position last month.
In his first assignment as captain, he successfully guided his team to a historic victory, breaking a 22-year drought by securing an ODI series win in Australia.
Pakistan lost the first match of the three-match series by two wickets, however, they staged an impressive comeback in the next two matches to win their first series in Australia since 2002.
Pakistan’s historic victory prompted reactions from cricketers and analysts from across the globe.
Rashid Latif, during an interview with a local news channel, credited the inspired captaincy of Mohammad Rizwan for the team’s stellar performance.
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“When you have a good captain, the team performs on the ground. We can clearly see this happening in this series,” Latif stated. “In this win, captaincy, player selection, and pitch conditions all played a significant role.”
The former captain also lauded the impressive performances of Pakistan’s players, highlighting how they skillfully adapted to the conditions in Australia.
“The bowlers performed beyond expectations, dismissing Australian players who are familiar with their home pitches,” he added.
“And the batting, which chased down 141 with ease, was equally impressive. This win against Australia in Australia is highly encouraging for Pakistan cricket.”
It’s worth noting that Pakistan and Australia will now face each other in the first T20I of the three-match series on November 14 in Brisbane.
The subsequent matches are scheduled to be played on November 16 and 18 in Sydney and Hobart, respectively.
Squads for Pakistan-Australia T20I series
Australia: Josh Inglis (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Philippe, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
Pakistan: Muhammad Rizwan (c), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.
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