Rizwan slams 'average' players obsessed with averages

Mohammad Rizwan shared his perspective on player mentality, stressing the importance of prioritizing the team's needs over personal interests.

In an interview with Cricbuzz, he dismissed the idea of fixating on individual statistics, stating that players solely concerned with averages are average themselves.

“Firstly the teams that you are representing keep that [role] in front and if you think of yourself in that case... like players who think like let me save myself, he won't go far. Those players who look at averages are average players. If someone is performing it will be there in the stats for people to see, like say India's Virat Kohli, he is getting his average higher but he is not focusing on that because average players looks at average and big players will look at the team and the situation and my focus remains on what is the requirement of the team,” Rizwan said.

“The team says Rizwan look at board and play accordingly. I maintain the same thing in my own life too but it is not easy. In T20 playing the new ball and in ODI go after 25 overs when the ball is a bit old that is not easy and it is a mind game,” he added.

Rizwan also shed light on team management’s rationale behind splitting his opening combination with Babar Azam in T20Is.

“Our management and captain said that we are trying out different things for the World Cup and for that we want to see what can be our best XI. Like say we can have left-right combination at the top and Saim Ayub is left-hander. There is Fakhar Zaman also... so for World Cup we were experimenting with left-right combination,” Rizwan said.

“I don't think it is a wrong decision and if I am destined to [open] in that case I will do it in future and I am not angry with the thinking process of the management and neither is Babar Azam. Look they said, we are going to West Indies and there will be spin and every country is trying for left-right combination and so our management is also giving that a thought,” he concluded.