Former Australian cricketer Darren Lehmann has questioned the Pakistan team management for pitting Sarfaraz Ahmed over Mohammad Rizwan in the ongoing Perth Test. The first match of the series between the teams began today at WACA Stadium.
Pakistan announced their XI a day before the match. They did a 4-man pace attack with Agha Salman as the only spinner. Another thing that caught the attention of many was that they backed Sarfaraz Ahmed as the team’s goalkeeper instead of Mohammad Rizwan, considered one of Pakistan’s best players.
Sarfaraz Ahmed was chosen as the team’s goalkeeper based on his previous outings. But this did not sit well with many. They called for the inclusion of Mohammad Rizwan in the team and also criticized the team management a lot for their selection process.
Sarfaraz Ahmed had a decent outing in the game but missed a chance which only added more salt to the debate between him and Rizwan. The former picked two catches but missed a chance to David Warner at 141. Fortunately, it didn’t cost much as after 20-odd runs the batsman got out.
After the first day’s work was completed, Mohammad Rizwan was seen carrying out a maintenance session. Seeing this, Darren Lehmann was not impressed as he wanted the keeper-batsman in the XI instead of Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Here is Darren Lehmann’s post about Mohammad Rizwan:
Because that is not it? 🤷♂️
– Darren Lehmann (@darren_lehmann) December 14, 2023
AUS vs PAK: Pakistan took 5 wickets on Day 1 of the Perth Test; Australia’s 346th place
Australia Had a dominant day in Perth with the bat as they made the most of the local conditions. They opted to bat first and their openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja (41) were tested by the Pakistan bowlers with a new ball. But they negotiated the tough phase and added 126 runs for the opening partnership.
After that, Steve Smith (31) and Travis Head (40) also contributed brave hands, but the real hero was David Warner. It closed a sensational century. The batsman scored 164 runs off 211 balls with 16 fours and 4 sixes. His innings took Australia to 346/5 at stumps on Day 1. Pakistan’s bowlers struggled to get going but managed five wickets. Apart from Agha Salman, everyone has picked a wicket.