Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan has urged his teammates to show the same resilience in the Champions Trophy which they had shown in the 10 years when no international cricket was held in the country.
No top team in international cricket had toured Pakistan following the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team in March 2009 until the start of this decade when sides like Australia, England and New Zealand resumed visiting their Asian opponents.
In between, Pakistan hosted Zimbabwe in 2015, while a World XI side under Faf du Plessis had toured for a three-match T20I series to quell security concerns.
“I think, most importantly, we should all enjoy the Champions Trophy as it is after a long time (that) we are having such a big event in Pakistan,” Rizwan said on Tuesday, the eve of their Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand in Karachi.
“If you see, even in those 10 years when we suffered because of no international cricket at home, Pakistan cricket did well and won big matches, including gaining the No.1 rank in Tests and winning the Champions Trophy (in 2017). I hope we can repeat that same thing on this occasion and be resilient,” the skipper added.
The task, though, will be cut out for the hosts on Wednesday as the Black Caps are fresh from their tri-series win in Pakistan, which also reflects how well they adapted to the conditions there.
“Anytime you’ve been in conditions you’re coming up against is an advantage,” New Zealand keeper-batter Tom Latham pointed out. “We’re lucky we have been over here for a couple of weeks and played in Pakistan quite a bit over the last three years.”
A quality stroke-maker at the top in the form of Devon Conway, the current form of former captain Kane Williamson, the effectiveness of Latham and Daryl Mitchell in the middle order, and a super-utility player like left-arm spinner and skipper Mitchell Santner certainly keep the Black Caps in good stead.
The pressure thus will be more on Pakistan, though a fair amount of their problems could be solved if ace batsman Babar Azam goes back to scoring big. Babar will continue to open in the Champions Trophy, skipper Rizwan said. Pacer Haris Rauf, too, is fit for the tournament opener.
Rizwan also admitted that his team was unable to show consistency because of its failure to perform in pressure situations. “I think we lack that one or two per cent needed to win matches under pressure. Unfortunately, we tend to crack under pressure and lose close matches as we have been doing in the recent games.”
New Zealand, though, will miss their key pacer Lockie Ferguson, who has been ruled out with an injury to his right foot. Kyle Jamieson will come in his place after the ICC event technical committee approved the change on the eve of the Black Caps’ campaign-opener.
