Rizwan denies refusing to move one down in T20Is for Pakistan

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has clarified his stance on batting positions and team strategy, emphasizing his flexibility and commitment to the team's success.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, addressing recent discussions surrounding his batting order, Rizwan stated, "I never refused to play one down. When I was asked, I said I am absolutely available." 

Rizwan further asserted his readiness to adapt, mentioning his willingness to bowl and even relinquish wicket-keeping duties if required.

"I even said that if I am needed for bowling, I am ready for that too, I can even leave my wicket-keeping," he further added.

Reflecting on his career, Rizwan highlighted his versatility by noting his appearances at various batting positions. 

"If you look at my career so far, in 26 matches, I have gone to bat at numbers 7, 8, and 9. No batsman has gone in at number 9, I have. I cannot say that I will not do this. I was ready before, and I am still ready now," Rizwan said.

Regarding recent losses faced by the team and shuffling his opening pair with Babar Azam, Rizwan clarified that attributing these defeats to batting order adjustments would be misplaced. 

“I was asked that if splitting my opening pair with Babar hurt Pakistan. Maybe I didn’t understand the question at that time, but I said it hurt Pakistan in the context that Pakistan had lost four matches. I did not say that it hurt Pakistan because we were split as an opening pair,” Rizwan stated.

"We understand what is best for Pakistan and who determines the best? The coach can see, the captain can see. If we talk about the New Zealand tour, even then Shaheen adopted a rotation policy, so that the best can be extracted from each player. We don't say that we made a mistake by going back and forth, but we can say that you should look at things logically, do things logically that are best for Pakistan," he concluded.