Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan blamed the culture of the country for the team being unpredictable. This came after Pakistan recorded one of their highest ODI chases, as they achieved the 353-run target set by South Africa in the last league match in Karachi.
South Africa made 352/5 after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Heinrich Klaasen (87), Matthew Breetzke (83) and Temba Bavuma (82) were the main scorers for the Proteas.
In response, despite Fakhar Zaman’s 41, Pakistan found themselves 91/3. But then, Mohammad Rizwan (122*) and Salman Agha (134) added 260 runs for the 4th wicket as Pakistan chased down the total with one over in hand and 6 wickets.
On being asked to explain the reason behind Pakistan cricket team's unpredictable nature, Rizwan blamed the country's culture behind the same.
"The answer to this is very long because the unpredictability factor is maily due to our culture. It's always been the case. Our kids don't know what to do in life. So if you look at our cricket, whether it's Australia, Zimbabwe, or even today, there has always been this unpredictability. It's a rarity that we win games one-sided. We are putting the effort, but this is not our cricket's fault alone, our culture has always been like this. Even our kids future is unpredictable," Rizwan said during a post-match press conference.
Rizwan also attributed the team's success against South Africa to divine intervention and strategic planning.
“When God helps, you break all kinds of records. We gave our full effort. We were looking to restrict them to 320, but Klaasen took them to 350. When we were going back after the first innings, Khushdil said we had chased 350 before. Someone said we had chased 340 against some other team. When Agha and I were batting, we set targets for five to five overs.
We failed to achieve that a couple of times but mostly did. Our fielding still needs some improvement. Hopefully, we will be able to do it because that's how champion teams play. When we were going back after the first innings, Khushdil (Shah) said we had chased 350 before, so those were inspiring words," Rizwan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
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Pakistan will now take on New Zealand in the final on Friday, hoping to avenge their defeat in the opening match of the tournament.
