Players of both India and Pakistan want to face each other regularly, claims Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan has been one of the most consistent batsmen around for the last couple of years across formats. The star wicket-keeper, who is also Pakistan’s deputy under Babar Azam, won the T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2021 for his resounding success in the shortest format. He recently played alongside India’s talismanic batter Cheteshwar Pujara while representing England’s county side Sussex.

Rizwan, ahead of Pakistan’s upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies, revealed an interesting fact regarding something which has often been talked about for close to a decade. The 30-year-old said he had many discussions with Pujara about the resumption of India versus Pakistan bilateral series, and India’s stalwart is eager to be part of it.

 “Everyone wants to see Pakistan and India play bilateral series or other matches but the state level affairs are not in the hands of the players. I get the impression that players of both sides want to play regularly against each other but we can’t do anything,” Rizwan told the reporters in Lahore.

Further, when asked what he learned from Pujara, Rizwan commented: “You learn from being with such senior players and I picked up things from Pujara mainly from the way he focuses and concentrates while batting.”

Notably, the two countries last played a bilateral white ball series in 2012 while the last Test series between the two teams was played back in 2007.