Pitch was not easy for batting: Rizwan

By Our Correspondent

February 21, 2025

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan addresses presser at National Stadium in Karachi on February 18, 2025, on the eve of their ICC Champions Trophy one-day international match against New Zealand. — AFP

KARACHI: National team captain Mohammad Rizwan said that the pitch was not easy for batting in the first match of the Champions Trophy.

Talking to the media after the match, Mohammad Rizwan said that the New Zealand team scored a very good total. “We were thinking that 260 runs would be scored, but Tom Latham and Will Young batted brilliantly,” he said. “We didn’t expect they would get 320. We thought around 260 when we took early wickets.”

He said that losing Fakhar Zaman as opener was crucial as Pakistan failed to get the benefit of power play. On a question about the match against India, Rizwan said that he was not thinking about their status of being the defending champions and would take the upcoming match as normal.

Meanwhile, Kiwi captain Mitchell Santner said that Pakistan’s bowlers bowled well. “We thought we would score up to 280 runs, we had a good partnership in the middle, which led to more runs in the end,” he said. “Our bowlers bowled dot balls, which put pressure on Pakistan.”