10 October - Hyderabad - Pakistan player Mohammad Rizwan post-match press conference
[Reporter]
You have played some outstanding innings. Tell us something about your partnership with Abdullah. And of course, Abdullah's...Because it was the first match of the World Cup, how was the communication between you two? And how did he turn it into such a great partnership? And Pakistan has achieved a historic victory.
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
See, his first century was later, the way he played the innings, like you have a 300+ score on the board, you are doing things and because you go as an opener, there is a different kind of pressure on you. It happens, that score is above 300, you must do things, whatever the pitch, and it's true that the pitch was helpful, but when you look at the board and that's what we decided inside and that's what I told Abdullah. Don’t look at the board, we kept following our plan, because there was a separate plan till 20 over, there was a separate plan till 30 and then there was a separate plan till 40 over. This is what we planned. In our big chases we had contributions from Babar Azam, everyone knows how big a player he is, unfortunately, he got out, and when he got out then we did this plan that now till 20 overs we bat normal. It is this communication and calculation. The way Abdullah built the innings in the beginning, the kind of shots he hit, made it easy for us to chase the score.
[Reporter]
My question to you is that you have made the first century in the World Cup and that too in such a tough moment when you had to chase more than 345 runs, what were you thinking when you went to the wicket, when Babar Azam was out and you were responsible for it, so how do you handle the innings yourself?
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
I have already answered this question. It is my first [World Cup] century, yes, you never go with a plan of a century. Because when you chase, you go with a different mindset. And for me, this is the first time I am playing in the ODI World Cup. It's a different experience. I have played T20 World Cups before. There is a difference here. My batting order is number 4, I must play a little differently. If you look at any team in the world, the number 4 player is different, or number 3 or number 4. Because this player should be able to play fast bowlers and spinners. There is no issue if such a player has all the shots. Because he can go in 10 overs or 30 overs. So, this is a different role for me in this position. It's challenging, but thanks to God, the way you talked about innings, he built the innings thinking that two wickets are falling, and you are chasing 300+. So, this it's a big chase for us, Alhamdulillah. We learnt from our seniors that whenever we want to do something, we should try to do it. So, we tried to do it.
[Reporter]
You lost the first two warm-ups.Yes. So, you are winning very well now. You are so confident. You might win the third match. The third match is going to be in Ahmedabad. This is what happened. Secondly, how is your health? You were falling, increasing cramps, back pain. I was also feeling your pain. You played like a man. The last question is that you stayed in Hyderabad for 15 days. Alhamdulillah, you stayed in Hyderabad. We are proud of you for staying in Hyderabad for 15 days. You ate and drank a lot. Where did you go? Did you see Charminar?
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
I forgot the answer to the question, please tell me. I think I have four questions. The first question is that we lost the warm-up and won this. Because we made some experiments, some things are different. Everyone was saying that Shaheen was not playing, Haris never bowled, Shadab never started. So, things are a little different in the warm-ups. So, we have used the warm-ups as an experiment. So, there is nothing wrong with that. Yes, we won against the Netherlands, and have now won against Sri Lanka and now match in Ahmedabad. We now have momentum. Tomorrow, our next match, everyone knows that it is with India, but they will also come with a plan, we will also come with a plan. And where you talked about Hyderabad, I felt like I was playing a match in Pindi. The way the crowd gave love today, and not just me, the whole Pakistan team gave love. In fact, they supported Sri Lanka too. Because I am happy that the crowd in Hyderabad has supported cricket, both Sri Lanka and us. I had a lot of fun with them. The curator here said the same thing to me. When we got to the ground for the first time, he said, Rizwan, you must hit two 100s on this ground. I met him today as well. We can pray for him and you should pray for him too.
[Reporter]
Rizwan bhai, this is a big win for you. But I think that you lost 2 wickets on 37. After that, like you gave a performance and Shafiq bhai gave a performance, there was a partnership of 176 runs. And later between you and Saud Shakeel, there was a partnership of 100 runs. So, I think that this was a turning point. You have achieved a great success with your plan, and you were thinking that there is always pressure in chasing even though it was a batting wicket. But still this bowling unit has given 400 plus runs against [South] Africa. So, you were not thinking that there is a target of 350, so we can chase against this bowling unit.
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
First question I think is about bringing Abdullah Shafique and giving rest to the Fakhar. This is management and captain's decision. We can give advice. As a senior player we can give advice. Secondly, you have said that against such a team or pressure on them, I think that if you see, 300+ scores have been chased by the Pakistan team. Our top 3 batsmen played an important role in this. So when we reached the ground today, Abdul Rahman who is also our coach and there were 2-3 more players with me, said, Rizwan this pitch looks like a batting pitch. When we were bowling inside, I think it was 33-32 over that time, I told Nawaz and 2-3 players, if we restrict it to 340-plus, then I hope it's the best. If it goes above that, it means we're not doing good bowling. If we restrict them to 340-50, we've made a very good comeback. Our bowlers made a big comeback. Because we decided 340-50 in the middle. As we came in, you probably know that Mickey Arthur always has positive vibes. So, we also got positive vibes that we have scored more than 340 against Australia in Pakistan. So, keep things going. Unfortunately, 2 wickets fell and there was pressure. Me and Abdullah Shafique had it in our mind that we will only score 100 in 20 overs and somehow at least get ourselves to 100. So they attacked, and we were trying to take Sri Lanka deep and somehow put pressure on. So with the same pressure that we tried, he made it great in the middle. Did you have any questions?
[Reporter]
Have you been to Charminar You've been to Charminar?
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
Charminar…We haven't been there yet.
[Reporter]
Rizwan, personally, about your batting. In the last 1-1.5 years, your form has been very good in the last year and a half at ODIs. What has changed? What areas have you worked on that have made such a drastic shift in your ODI batting in the last year and a half?
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
Look, I haven't done anything special. Because I only know about hard work. I know only one thing, that is hard work. I know the demand of Allah. The demand of Almighty from me, because if I understand that as a Muslim, Allah is only mine, then it is not understandable, because Allah is the Lord of the Worlds, he is also there for India's Virat Kohli, for Joe Root. Steve Smith's too, he's everyone's. And the edge [while batting] in any match, and if you look at my first edge for three runs, which went over the fielder, it could have gone in the hands of the fielder too. But I believe in these things. It is hard work; it is bravery and then it is execution of a good deed which you do at the right time. The rest I leave it to Allah. And what you are saying that what is the difference, there is no difference. The things which were in my batting before, I think the management's decision a few years back for me was that I used to bat at different numbers, maybe I was not exposed. So, then in T20, Misbah-ul-Haq asked me to open, now management gave me 4 number in the order for ODIs, maybe that's why I can see things, I think I had this thing, from the beginning – the ability to adjust to the demands of different positions in the batting order.
[Reporter]
Mr. Rizwan, you talked about the crowd, you were here for 10-15 days in Hyderabad. Tell us about that experience, about hospitality and other things. How was the team experience and your experience?
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
Hospitality, you all must have seen it. Someone must have taken pictures when we came to the airport. You must have seen it. What you guys didn't see, the way these guys welcomed us at the airport, was awesome. The way the crowd came, everyone saw it today, the way they gave their voices with love, I said earlier that I felt like I was playing in front of crowd of Rawalpindi, our ground in Lahore is big, a lot of people come there, this ground felt like Rawalpindi. Today it seems that Pakistan's match is taking place in Rawalpindi. I forgot the other question. Was there any other question? Or it was enough? Ok, next.
[Reporter]
Rizwan, congratulations on your hundred. Behind the stumps, you saw another two hundreds from the two Sri Lankans, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama, a word on their performances on the two hundreds scored by the Sri Lankans.
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
You said they performed well?
[Reporter]
Yeah, I'm just asking your opinion on those two hundreds.
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
No, no, look, the way they played it is outclass. You know that. But the pitch, you know, was a good one. When they were batting, at that moment, we decided 340, 350. If you restrict them there, and that 340, 350, we will need to bowl very well. And then in the middle overs when Hassan Ali comes, Shaheen Shah came and Haris Rauf came to bowl, they bowled very well and they restricted them. But you must applaud Mendis and Samarawickrama, they played very well. But you know, we knew that the pitch was very good. And Inshallah, if we restrict them to under 350 then we can chase, we had that thought and plan.
[Reporter]
So Rizwan, you were struggling with cramps and back pain throughout your innings. So most of the players you see, when you get cramps, they tend to go for shots. But you still ran hard. So how do you manage to recover so soon and get along with your normal game?
[Mohammad Rizwan:]
I think I will give credit to our physio Cliffy. The way he gave me some magic, I don't know what you call it, the cramp fix, it's a medicine. Now somewhere you know that I have some pain in my body. At the moment I am fine, but sometimes pain or cramp comes, sometimes it doesn’t come. But during my batting I didn’t want to give it away, because you know the bowling of Sri Lanka, they have decent bowlers. If I give him the wicket at that moment, it's difficult for the new batsman. I have seen this in my start of my career because I was coming on seven on eight in that positions. If I give him wicket at that time, it's very difficult the other batsman that follow, I know it becomes difficult for lower-order batters. Yeah, we are lucky the way Iftikhar came and the way he batted. Iftikhar and Saud Shakeel played impactful innings. So, I was lucky that time because they came out to bat and then they performed very well that moment.
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