BRISBANE: Fresh from a rare yet emphatic One-day Intern­ational series triumph in Australia, Pakistan take on the hosts in a three-match T20 International rubber starting here at the Gabba on Thursday. The Mohammad Rizwan-led Green shirts came back after losing the first ODI to stun Australia 2-1 in a three-game series.

Though Australia’s side largely comprised youngsters which lowered the profile of Pakistan’s ODI series win Down Under after 22 years, the tourists with their impressive all-round performance on the ground showed they meant business under the new white-ball captain.

And Rizwan naturally sounded optimistic about the T20 series against Australia, maintaining the team would want to continue with the momentum they had developed in the ODI series.

“Right now, our focus is on the current [T20] series and how we can field the best [playing] XI. We’re working on it and have something in mind for that,” Rizwan said while talking to media in Brisbane.

“We are confident after beating Australia in the ODI series but international cricket is always challenging so we aim to do things as better as we can, going into this T20 series against Australia,” he added.

“We have determined the roles of various players in the team and look forward to executing our best plans not just in this series but also in the upcoming white-ball fixtures against Zimbabwe and South Africa.

“My intent is to keep everyone in the group involved and positive about the game. Of course, the conditions have helped the bowlers on this tour so far but we also want to prove our mettle as a batting unit and I look forward to an exciting contest in the three matches,” Rizwan further said.

Responding to a question about Pakistan’s line-up for the first game, the wicketkeeper/batter maintained an air of mystery, saying that the team management had chosen to keep it confidential for now.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the playing XI, but we’ve kept it a secret for now because there are some things I want to keep to myself,” Rizwan said. “Once the decisions are finalised, we’ll share them.”

On the opening pair, Rizwan insisted the team’s focus on stability and consistency while also addressing key areas for improvement.

“We always aim to stick with what’s working best, while also focusing on areas that need improvement,” he added. “I always try to consult with others and make decisions that are in the best interest of Pakistan.”

Leading a squad with fresh faces, Rizwan acknowledged the impact of senior players’ absence — such as Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim and Iftikhar Ahmed — whose experience had been pivotal for Pakistan in T20s.

“The names you’ve mentioned, it’s not easy to fill the gap they have left. You can’t replace them overnight; it takes time,” the skipper stated. “All four have contributed a lot, and it’s hard to say how long it will take to fully fill their roles in our line-up.”

NO SECOND-STRING SQUAD

Josh Inglis, Australia’s stand-in T20 captain, opened up about the criticism over the management announcing a second-string squad for the shortest-format series against Pakistan.

The wicket-keeper/batter said that certain decisions are ‘above his pay-grade’ and highlighted that certain players were needed for the other format as well, looking at the scheduling.

However, he did not find it fair to call the squad ‘Australia-B’ team. This comes after the first-choice players were not included in the T20 squad as they prepare for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“I don’t think it’s very fair to say that, but we know how challenging the schedule is. There’s always series overlapping where players are used [in different] formats. There are decisions to be made. That’s above my pay grade, thankfully,” Inglis said.

Inglis was handed over the captaincy duties in the absence of Mitchell Marsh, who is currently on paternity leave. He captained the ODI side in the third match against Pakistan, which the hosts lost by eight wickets in Perth.

While admitting that Australia’s batting did not perform well against the Green-shirts in the ODIs, Inglis aimed to correct the errors in the shortest format.

“There were big [ODI] losses, and typically not something that we’re very used to. You’ve got to be honest, that batting group didn’t score enough runs and that’s on us to rectify that this week,” Inglis said.

Australia faced stinging criticism for resting key players in the final ODI against Pakistan. However, they said that Australia were not taking Pakistan lightly and realised that they were a good side.

“Everyone’s got their methods and how they go about it. It’s just about bringing them up this week, and let’s forget about what’s happened before. Just attack it head-on and keep backing yourself but we’ve seen how good a side this [Pakistan] team is and we don’t take any team we come against lightly,” he added.

Squads:

AUSTRALIA: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (captain), Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

PAKISTAN: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain/wicket-keeper), Mohammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024