Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan wishes to have the focus and concentration levels of his County teammate Cheteshwar Pujara as he looks to improve as a red-ball cricketer.
Rizwan Praises Pujara
The Indo-Pak pairing had shared a 154-run stand against Durham earlier this month and they play for the same team has also attracted a lot of positive attention on social media.
Rizwan, who was named the ICC Player of the Year for 2021, rates Pakistan’s Younis Khan and Fawad Alam very highly when it comes to batting with unwavering concentration but he has now added Pujara to the list.
“…As far as myself and Pujara are concerned, I didn’t feel anything strange. And hopefully, if you ask him, his answer will be the same as mine. Although I do share a laugh with him and tease him (laughs) and everyone in the team knows this,” Rizwan told Cricwick website.
Furthermore, Rizwan said he rates Pujara among the top 3 when it comes to concentration levels and that he wishes to emulate the India batting star by learning from him.
“He is a very nice and loving guy. And his concentration and focus too… If you get a chance to learn something, you should do it.
“In terms of concentration levels and I told this to the coaches here too. In my whole career, the players with the most focus, and concentration are Younis Bhai, Fawad Alam, and his (Pujara).
“Pujara is second on my list and Fawad Alam on three in terms of pure concentration and focus. I rate these three players very highly,” he said.
Shedding light on their conversations about the game, Rizwan said Pujara had given him a piece of advice when it comes to switching from white-ball to red-ball cricket.
Pujara has been a red-ball specialist for India over the years. He landed an IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings last year but did not play a game for the 4-time champions. Pujara did not find bidders at the IPL 2022 mega auction but the Saurashtra batter certainly seems to have caught the selectors’ attention.
“…in terms of the focus and concentration levels, there is a time when that starts dropping low … I will try to figure how these three players have so intense focus and concentration. I keep on talking with Younis bhai, I couldn’t talk much with Fawad recently on this.
“And with Pujara, I had a chat with him after I got out early. He told me a few things and one of them was to play close to the body. And as everyone knows, we have been playing white-ball cricket consistently over the past few years and play a bit away from our body,” Rizwan said.
Sussex will return to action on Thursday when the side takes on Leicestershire.
Also read: Shoaib Akhtar Claims that He Turned Down £175,000 County Contract to Fight Kargil War
