Senses prevailed. A correct and appropriate decision has been reached. More importantly, announced. With it, Pakistan conquered the fortress Australia with a clinical and dominating 2-1 win in the ODI series — after a yawning gap of 22 years.
A logical choice. It was inexplicably delayed. When Babar Azam was forced to step down from the all-format captaincy, the logical choice was Rizwan because of his performance. He has leadership qualities, amply exhibited in Australia. He fought tooth and nail, showed aggression and intent by keeping an attacking field and was clear on his plans to use his four fast bowlers to the best effect.
He never shied away from attacking. Even with a modest target of 204 Rizwan made a match of it. He attacked relentlessly and it was only a fighting knock from Pat Cummins that Australia pulled off a miraculous two-wicket win. Pakistan chased 164 and 141 in the last two ODIS and it again boiled down to aggressive decisions of bowling first and winning.
The final result proved Pakistan had erred by not giving the captaincy to Rizwan after a disastrous ODI World Cup last year. Rizwan proved to be a leader of players, not the proverbial captain.
Rizwan had shown signs of being a good captain in the Pakistan Super League. But Rizwan’s commercial affiliation with a company acting as an agent for various Pakistan players became an impediment. An inquiry into the company’s objectionable affairs and the conflict of interest of some players was announced. It never came about.
Instead, Pakistan went for Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was another player who has a combative nature and led Lahore Qalandars to successive titles in 2022 and 2023. But Shaheen’s vulnerability in fitness was something negative. You need your captain to be at the park all the time. India preferred Surya Kumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as T20I captain for the same reason.
A change in Pakistan Cricket Board’s leadership led to another wrong decision in late April this year. Babar Azam was brought back. To the surprise of some, Babar accepted the role without thinking that not long ago he had shirked away. It proved to be a wrong decision as Babar showed no signs of change. Neither any improvement was seen in the style of his captaincy. He led the T20I team in the same manner.
Just like the ODI World Cup, Pakistan crashed out of the T20I World Cup, losing shockingly to newcomers USA and, habitually, to India. There was no press conference from Babar nor from the white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten but there were reports that the management did not want Babar to continue.
It took four months for Babar to finally decide he didn’t want to continue. He may have read the writing on the wall.
Rizwan was elevated to Multan Sultans’ captaincy by none other than former England head coach Andy Flower. Himself a great skipper of a not-so-strong Zimbabwe team, Flower noticed the abilities of a fighter in Rizwan. “I have noticed Rizwan leading in the Quaid Trophy tournament for his state (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) so he’s got the qualities to make a very successful leader. I don’t know him well, but obviously, I’ve been doing a bit of research on him and he had some of the leadership qualities that we’re looking for a new way forward.”
Rizwan’s strongest trait is his belief. That has always been a key element in a successful captain. A strong belief is Rizwan’s forte. He thrives on his strong belief in religion, in the Almighty, in his and his fellow players and the hard work he himself puts in and demands from his players.
Rizwan has a belief in abundance. Come what may, he will not leave his belief. Before embarking on the Australian tour Rizwan had that belief. “If we have not won in Australia in the past, it doesn’t mean we will not win now. We will fight till the end and leave the results in the hands of Almighty Allah,” were his words. When Pakistan beat India for the first time in a World Cup in 2021, his words were similar.
“I am a firm believer in that Almighty Allah helps those who put their shoulder in the wheel and believe in Almighty and belief in their abilities. We had not beaten India much but now we have beaten them in two games in less than a year. The belief that we can beat any team on our day is great. No doubt, the goal is to win the trophy but all that is in our hands is to work hard and do our best on the ground and results come with that effort.”
The win in Australia will lift Pakistan’s image, which is much needed. The failures in the recent past have given naysayers a chance to say that Pakistan does not belong to international cricket. India has refused to send its team to Pakistan for the Champions trophy on the pretext of security fears. Pakistan can only reply with strong showings on the field.
Rizwan readily acknowledged teamwork — another good trait of a captain. “It’s a special moment for me and the fans. As a whole team, we are happy. I don’t want to be captain just for the presentation or toss. I’m open to suggestions from everyone, the older players, the younger players and the backroom staff. I’ll give all the credit to the bowlers. Australia in Australia is not easy. But Saim and Abdullah have given us a couple of great starts, too. The fans love us regardless of whether we win or lose and I really appreciate that.”
Rizwan is the man who can goad them to such positive results. Once on the field results improve, and cricket will also flourish off it.
