'Virat Kohli is getting his average higher...': Mohammad Rizwan says 'average players look at averages'

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Mohammad Rizwan has shed light on the difference in his approaches when he comes out to bat in T20I and ODI cricket, and talked about the game of average is different for different players.

Rizwan, who averages over 40 in all the three formats of the game, said that "average players look at averages". He dropped Virat Kohli's reference to prove his point further.

The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter said that Virat Kohli has a high average but he plays as the need of the team. He added that he follows a similar path, and is not looking to increasing his average for personal reasons.

"Firstly the teams that you are representing keep that [role] in front and if you think of yourself in that case... like players who think like let me save myself, he won't go far. Those players who look at averages are average players. If someone is performing it will be there in the stats for people to see, like say India's Virat Kohli, he is getting his average higher but he is not focusing on that because average players looks at average and big players will look at the team and the situation and my focus remains on what is the requirement of the team," Rizwan told Cricbuzz.

"The team says Rizwan look at board and play accordingly. I maintain the same thing in my own life too but it is not easy. In T20 playing the new ball and in ODI go after 25 overs when the ball is a bit old that is not easy and it is a mind game," he added.

Rizwan on Shaheen Afridi captaincy

Shaheen Afridi led the Pakistan T20I team for the first time in his career during the T20I series against New Zealand. Even though Pakistan managed to win one game of the five-match series, Rizwan praised Shaheen Afridi's captaincy and talked about his "unique quality".

"He [Shaheen Afridi] is a very good captain and I have seen him in Lahore Qalandars and other teams where I was his teammate and he is that kind of a player who neither loses his heart nor courage till the end of a game. In the recent past against New Zealand, we scored 228, 220 and we lost the match. And in the last game we made about 135 runs and it looked like they would chase it down in 12 overs. But when Shaheen came down to the huddle he said that we have to win this game and show this world. And this is a unique quality that he possesses that he does not lose his courage at any stage of his game," he said..