Asia Cup 2022: 'Rizwan is a true warrior for me,' Babar Azam

DUBAI: Pakistani skipper Babar Azam highly praised his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan for remaining committed to his team despite all the pain. 

Rizwan was suffering from knee pain while he was batting against India in a high-pressure game on September 4 in T20 Asia Cup 2022. Despite knee pain, Rizwan scored unbeaten 71 runs to help Pakistan win by five wickets against their arch-rivals. 

While praising the wicket-keeper batter, Babar said he is a true warrior. "I have never seen a cricketer with such an attitude," he responded to a reporter during a press conference today. 

"To me, he is a true warrior who always stands for Pakistan. If you talk about his commitment, so everybody knows how he came straight from ICU to play the semi-final against Australia in T20 World Cup last year. A player with such a character is always important for you," he added. 

Moving ahead in the event

Babar said victory against India gave them immense confidence while moving ahead in the T20 Asia Cup 2022. "Victory against India gave us so much confidence. Every player gave his best performance against India. As a unit, we are confident to continue this performance and play competitive cricket against other opponents," he said. 

Babar thinks that winning Asia Cup is not an easy task. "Winning Asia Cup is not easy. It's not like we will say, we will win. It requires a lot of hard work and focus," said the skipper who has so far failed to make his presence felt in the tournament. 

"I know my performance wasn't up to the mark but the way Rizwan carried out there after I got out was commendable. I am learning from my mistakes and will come back inshallah," concluded Babar who scored 10, 9 and 14 in three matches respectively. 

Next match

After the convincing victory against India, Pakistan are now set to face Afghanistan in their second super 4 stage contest in Sharjah tomorrow [September 7].

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