'Aap khud cricketer hain, ye lafz sahi nahi hai': Ex-Pakistan stars in heated argument over 'Rizwan ne harwaaya' remark
The former Pakistan star engaged in a heated discussion on a national news channel over a remark on the side's wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.
Pakistan produced a remarkable performance against South Africa to stay alive in the race for the T20 World Cup semi-finals. The Babar Azam-led side registered a 33-run win over the Proteas (DLS) in Sydney, securing a second victory in the Super 12 stage at the tournament. With the win, Pakistan are now third in the group table, ensuring a blockbuster final day of the group stage on Sunday when all teams of Group 2 will play in their last respective matches.
In their game against South Africa, Pakistan posted a strong score of 185/9 in 20 overs as Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan scored important half-centuries. However, the famed opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan continued to struggle; while the Pakistan captain failed to reach double figures for the fourth-successive time in this World Cup, Rizwan was dismissed in merely the fourth ball of the innings on 4.
Former Pakistan cricketer Sikander Bakht, who has represented the side in 26 Tests and 27 ODIs, was critical of Rizwan during a television debate following his poor outings. During a programme on Pakistan's GEO Super, the anchor talked about Suryakumar Yadav's ascension to the no.1 spot in the ICC T20I batting rankings, to which Sikander made a rather straightforward remark about Rizwan, who was previously at the top position.
“Vo (Suryakumar Yadav) no.1 hai duniya me. Unka strike rate 177.20 hai. Jo hamaara player tha, jo number 1 tha, aur jisne hamein Asia Cup harwaaya, uska strike rate hai 127. Rizwan ka. Quality of players ki main baat kar raha hu. (Suryakumar Yadav is no.1, his strike rate is 177.20. Our player who was no.1, who also lost us the Asia Cup, had a strike rate of 127. He's Rizwan. I'm just talking about the quality of players),” Sikander said.
To this, former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan, who was also the part of the expert panel, made a strong remark on Sikander's ‘choice of words’.
“Ek word ki toh correction karein, koi jaan-boojh ke nahi harwaata. Aadmi try karta hai. Aap khud cricketer hain. Harwaaya nahi hai, ye lafz sahi nahi hai aapka. (You should correct your word, no one deliberately wants to lose. Players try, you have been a cricketer yourself. He didn't make us lose, the word is not correct),” said Moin.
Sikander, then, clarified his remark. “Jab chase shuru kiya, uss waqt average (run rate) 8 ki thi. Unhone 16 over khele, toh 18 ka average karke chale gaye. (When he started the chase, our required run rate was 8. When he was dismissed in the 16th over, it had towered up to 18rpo),” said the former Pakistan cricketer.
