Dubai, November 11: Ahead of the semifinal clash in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Pakistan batters Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik missed the team’s practice session due to mild flu.

Pakistan and Australia will lock horns in the semifinal on Thursday (November 11).

According to ESPNcricinfo, an official described the condition of two batters as “light flu and low fever”.

Rizwan and Malik’s training was delayed but the two batters had to miss out on practice.

Meanwhile, when Pakistan batting consultant Matthew Hayden coaches his side in their semifinal against Australia, he isn’t just vying to guide his side to a third ICC T20 World Cup final.

The former opener will also be coming up against his home country, for whom he was the tournament’s top-scorer in the 2007 T20 World Cup, and Hayden will also face his former opening partner Justin Langer, now Australia’s head coach.

For Hayden, it will be a strange feeling for him to come up against his old team.

“It is a very unusual feeling, I was a warrior for Australian cricket for over two decades, so that does give me the benefit of having wonderful insights not only into these players but also into the culture of cricket in Australia,” said Hayden in a press conference as per ICC.

“I guess from my point of view there is the challenge of the heart, the challenge of the mind in terms of what’s going to happen over the next 24 hours, but I’ll also say very proudly that it’s been wonderful to be a part of Pakistan cricket,” he added.

Finch happy for Warner

Australia skipper Aaron Finch said he was never worried about the form of opening batter David Warner and it is great to see him firing.

“Yeah, I was never worried one bit about Dave’s form. He’s one of the all-time great batsmen of our era. I think you can look at it as though he had a really lean IPL 2021 and then the start of this tournament.

“But the two halves of the IPL were a long way apart, so if you miss out a couple of times at the end of the first part, which was in India, and then the first couple of games in Dubai, it looks as though a run of form is a pattern there,” said Finch during a pre-match virtual press conference.

“I certainly wasn’t worried. He’s all class; he’s trained hard; he’s mentally fresh; he’s ready to go. It’s great to see the best of him fit and firing. As we all know, it’s a great sight when he’s up and about and scoring runs for Australia,” he added.

Warner had a lean run with the bat for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) and he was even dropped from the playing XI.

However, the left-handed batter has managed to look good in the ongoing competition and he was seen at his best during the game against West Indies where he guided his team home.

Talking about the game against Pakistan, Finch said: “Oh, I don’t think it makes too much difference to be honest. In a tournament with the format thing, straight to semifinals and a final, you know that you’re on the tightrope from day one, and that first game against South Africa could have gone either way.

“We got over the line there in a really close one. We’ve played some really good cricket towards the back end after that England game.

“I don’t think it makes too much difference, to be honest. Pakistan have been excellent, particularly like at the start of this tournament, to build their bank, so to speak. Yeah, not too much,” he added.