Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan reiterated that the players share a good relationship with all Indian players, unlike fans. While there is a war of words between fans of the two countries, players treat it like another match as they keep sharing light-hearted moments during the match.
In an interview with the Youtube channel ‘Cricket Pakistan’, Mohammad Rizwan spoke at length about the experience of playing a high-profile match against India as Pakistan beat the arch-rivals by 10 wickets and it was their first-ever win against India in any World Cup game. Rizwan played a big hand as he scored 79 runs off 55 balls to form the unbeaten partnership of 152.
“Outside the field, we are like one cricketing family which includes all nations”- Mohammad Rizwan
However, he elaborated that they treated it like another game as they treat the same to all their opponents irrespective of their different opinions, be it Australia or India.
“We may have different feelings and opinions about various nations like Australia and India but on the field, we only think about beating them. We have no other option. But off the field, we have a great deal of respect and love for each other,” Rizwan said.
He emphasized that despite all the friendship outside the field, they never give an inch to their opponents.
“Having said that, it’s not like we make it easy for them to score runs or let him get to 100 if he’s on 99. This has never happened. We only had one thought process, which was to win at any cost,” he added.
After the match, players from both India and Pakistan were seen mingling around off the field.
“After the match, you saw a lot of players talk to Dhoni and Virat. Outside the field, we are like one cricketing family which includes all nations, be it Australia, South Africa, or Namibia,” he concluded.
Recently Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf took Twitter to thank MS Dhoni for gifting his Chennai Super Kings jersey
The legend & capt cool @msdhoni has honored me with this beautiful gift his shirt. The "7" still winning hearts through his kind & goodwill gestures. @russcsk specially Thank you so much for kind support. pic.twitter.com/XYpSNKj2Ia
— Haris Rauf (@HarisRauf14) January 7, 2022