Mohammad Rizwan calls for a break before T20 WC, says bubble life takes toll on mental health

Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan stressed on the challenges of playing consistent cricket in pandemic and said that living in the bio bubble has taken a toll on players’ mental health. The Test vice-captain thus has called for a break before the T20 World Cup saying it will help the players come back fresh for the showpiece event in UAE.

“It is not easy remaining in the bio-bubble all the time and we have been playing a lot of cricket in the last one year and more. It is good for us but at the same time it becomes a mental strain on the players as well,” he said during a virtual session on Thursday (August 19).

Meanwhile, reports are circulating that Pakistan management is considering resting key players, including skipper Babar Azam and pacers Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi for the Afghanistan series in Sri Lanka. The series was put in jeopardy after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. However, both boards are optimistic about the series going ahead as planned. 

Rizwan further reflected on the loss in the first Test against West Indies and said coming so close and losing was very disappointing.

“The bottomline is we lost the Test after coming so close to winning it and it hit us and we are now looking to bounce back strongly in the second Test,” he said.

The 29-year-old said playing a short Test series is challenging as it’s difficult to give players a decent run. Rizwan was referring to Imran Butt, who had a poor outing in the first Test. Pakistan has got off to a losing start in the second cycle of the World Test Championship but Rizwan is not concerned about the same as he feels there is plenty of cricket left to be played.