India and Pakistan are set to meet each other for the third time this year at the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. Ahead of the 23 October mega clash, Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan, on Friday, after Pakistan’s 21-run victory over Bangladesh in the tri-series, opened up about the battle and also made a special mention of India’s star T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav.
Mohammad Rizwan and Suryakumar Yadav have been competing for the top spot in the ICC T20I rankings for the previous two months. A month ago, the Pakistan opener overcame his opening partner and skipper Babar Azam to become the No. 1 T20I batter while Suryakumar was No. 4. But the India batter narrowed the gap in the home series against Australia and South Africa.
While being asked about Suryakumar in the post-match press conference, Rizwan praised the India cricketer for his skill but suggested that since he is an opener and Suryakumar is a middle-order batsman, critics should view them differently. “I only play in the way the team requires. I never think of being the Man of the Match or No. 1,” he added further after the Bangladesh match.
Despite having the chance to dethrone Rizwan and take over the top spot, Suryakumar was only able to score eight runs in the final T20I of the series against South Africa. However, he reduced the gap between him and Rizwan to just 16 points. The Pakistani batter will now eye to play some good innings to get well-settled atop the tally. In the first game of the ongoing tri-series against Bangladesh, the right-handed batter smashed a commendable 78 runs off 50 deliveries.
Talking about the India-Pakistan tie in the World Cup, Rizwan refused to hype the game. He said, “Obviously there is pressure in the India-Pakistan match, so I always try to keep things simple. If we look at the matches in recent times, there will not be much difference. It is important as it is a world cup match.”
Last year, Pakistan came out victorious against India in the T20 World Cup. Though the Men in Blue took a sweet revenge in the Asia Cup opener earlier this year, the Babar Azam-led unit clinched the victory in the crucial Super-4 game. In Group B of the T20 World Cup 2022, two Asian powerhouse sides have been grouped with Bangladesh, and South Africa, along with two qualifiers.
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