‘Rizwan guided me a lot during our partnership’ says Salman Ali Agha

ROTTERDAM: Pakistan’s young middle-order batter Salman Ali Agha revealed that wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan guided him during the match-winning partnership against the Netherlands in the second ODI.

Salman, who scored a magnificent half-century in his second ODI, credited wicket-keeper batter Rizwan for offering the guidance to build up his astonishing knock.

“Definitely he’s our senior player and one of the best players of Pakistan across all the formats. So, he was guiding me a lot like how to play, how to tackle some specific deliveries. So, his guidance helped me a lot,” Salman stated.

The right-handed batter while responding to a question regarding his plan regarding whether he will be targeting to score a century or a half-century, asserted that the team’s requirement would be the topmost priority for him.

“Thrive would be to play as I played in this match, according to the team’s demand. There is no doubt that a player has his individual milestone in his mind but the team is the top most priority,” Salman shared.

Salman then went on to comment on the conditions of the Netherlands and shared that the wicket is quite slow and offers a spongy bounce which make it difficult for a batter to hit the ball.

“The wicket is here is on a slower side and offers a spongy bounce. So, if a bowler bowls a length delivery, so it sponge bounces making it difficult to hit the ball. But, I tried to take on the challenge with a positive mindset and play my shots and thanks to Almighty it paid off,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that Salman scored his first fifty in ODI cricket in his second match, put on a match-winning 92-run partnership with Rizwan and propelled Pakistan to seal a resounding seven-wicket victory over the Netherlands and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

READ: Pakistan crush Netherlands in second ODI to claim series victory