Mohammad Rizwan in a post match press conference after a humiliating defeat against India:
Reporter: "Rizwan, this must be a disappointing result. What do you think were the main reasons for the defeat? Also, Kohli consistently performs well against Pakistan. Despite claims he's out of form, he scored a century against you."
Mohammad Rizwan: "Regarding Virat Kohli, I'm genuinely impressed by his dedication. He must have put in immense effort. While many say he's struggling, he delivers in crucial matches that everyone anticipates. He finds ways to score, which is precisely what we wanted to prevent. I must commend his fitness and hard work. We tried our best to dismiss him, but he took the game away. He proved his critics wrong by performing in this significant match.
"As for the match itself, of course, we're disappointed. Losing is always difficult, and it raises many questions. However, looking back, it's hard to pinpoint a single department where we failed completely, except perhaps for Abrar's bowling, which was a positive highlight. We made errors across all three areas, which ultimately led to our defeat."
Reporter: "Do you believe the middle order underperformed? And do you think the lack of quality spin bowling was a factor?"
Mohammad Rizwan: "Yes, the middle order didn't perform as expected. Previously, they've done well. In our pre-match meeting, we discussed that a score of 270-280 would be competitive on this pitch, given the slow outfield and pitch. Saud and I tried to build a partnership, but we took too much time. Our shot selection afterwards was poor, giving them opportunities to take wickets. Our middle order couldn't handle the pressure, and we failed to capitalize."
Reporter: "The coach mentioned yesterday that the pace attack was your strength. In hindsight, do you think relying on only one specialist spinner was a mistake?"
Mohammad Rizwan: "No, I don't think it was a mistake. Even the Indian team has Kuldeep as their main spinner, with Jadeja and Axar Patel acting as all-rounders. We also have Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah, who have bowled well in the past. In ODIs, especially, we need wickets in the middle overs. If we don't take them, we can't win. Our pace attack, Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris, has consistently performed well, but today wasn't their day."
Reporter: "It seemed like basic errors cost you the game. After you and Saud were dismissed, Jadeja took another wicket, and then two catches were dropped. Did you approach the match with a timid mindset, considering you only managed 245 after a strong middle-overs partnership?"
Mohammad Rizwan: "Honestly, we repeated the same mistakes we've made in the past four matches. We're working on them. We're human, and mistakes happen. I believe the Indian team showed more effort and perhaps more bravery than us today. That's why they won. We lacked energy in the field, which led to errors. We needed more bravery in certain situations."
Reporter: "Imam has been in good form domestically. Do you think Fakhar Zaman's absence affected the opening overs, and that only you and Saud managed to recover?"
Mohammad Rizwan: "Losing Saim Ayub impacted our team balance. He was a key part of our strategy. Fakhar and Imam are different players with different strengths. We wanted a strong opening partnership, but it didn't materialize. We did build a partnership in the middle overs, but both Imam and Babar are big players, and we expect more than just 20-30 runs from them."
Reporter: "As defending Champions Trophy champions and hosts, is your journey in this tournament over?"
Mohammad Rizwan: "For now, it seems so. We'll have to see how Bangladesh and New Zealand perform in their upcoming matches. We still have hope, but our fate now depends on other teams. As a captain, I don't like relying on others. We should win on our own merits. We accept that New Zealand and India defeated us. We can play well or poorly. We can't rely on other teams. We'll see what Allah has in store."
Reporter: "The match is over, but Abrar bowled well. Would having another specialist spinner have made a difference?"
Mohammad Rizwan: "You keep coming back to this point. You can't field five genuine bowlers in ODIs. Look at New Zealand with Bracewell, or India with Axar and Jadeja. Our selection committee chooses the best available players, like Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah, who can both bat and bowl. If you go with specialist bowlers, you'd have four bowlers and six batsmen, which isn't a balanced combination. While your question is valid, you can't field five bowlers in an ODI. You might in T20s, but ODIs are a longer format."
