Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan has expressed his ambition to achieve a clean sweep against Australia in the upcoming three-match T20I series.
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.
The team is preparing for the T20I series starting November 14 in Brisbane, followed by matches in Sydney and Hobart on November 16 and 18, respectively.
Rizwan, while addressing his teammates in the dressing room, shared his unwavering belief in their abilities.
He encouraged the players, emphasizing that they not only have the skill to defeat Australia in the T20I series, but they are capable of achieving a whitewash.
“No one was hoping that the team would beat Australia in Australia. We played like a unit and if we keep doing that, we will whitewash them in T20Is,” Rizwan stated.
The wicket-keeper reminded his players not to settle for a series victory, but to strive for greater achievements like the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.
“It is fine we have celebrated the ODI series win because no one expected us to win in Australia,” he added. “But I think we must all strive to win big titles like the World Cups and Champions Trophy to show everyone what Pakistan cricket is capable of.”
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: Mohammad 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.
