CT 2017: I don't think I will fill in Faulkner's role, remarks Moises Henriques

Australia all-rounder Moises Henriques is all excited to be the part of the Australian team for the Champions Trophy. The wise all-rounder has been in the scheme of things for the national side for quite some time. He arrived in the team camp after a decent outing in the recently concluded edition of the Indian Premier League. As per the recent quotes in Cricbuzz, he spoke at length at how he sees his position in the team.

He remarked that he is aware of what the team needs from him. He will try to win matches for his side every time he steps on the playing field. Moises Henriques is willing to contribute with both bat and the ball. In the recent times, he has evolved more as a batting all-rounder. Hence, he knows that he might fill in a place of a batsman in the team or a batting all-rounder slot.

“I’m pretty aware of what my role is in the team. If I do play, I try to go out and win games with the bat and do what I can with the ball when asked upon as well. I’m very hopeful, obviously. But, if not, I just hope that the best eleven goes out and gets a win but you can only hope. Everything from now on up until the game, basically the decision is in selectors hand. I can try and prepare as well as I can, the rest is in selectors hand,” he quoted.

“Since I’ve been sort of going more towards a batting all-rounder’s role in recent times as well, so I was very hopeful of being able to pick up a spot either as a batsman or a batting all-rounder at some stage. My job was to perform as a top six batsman, so what I do with the ball would be a bonus,” he added further.

On his selection

When asked to talk about his selection in the squad, the all-rounder conceded that he was very much hopeful to get picked. He knew that he can pretty well be in the mix of things for the men in yellow. In fact, there have been other tours where he thought he might get a place but ended up being ignored.

“I was sort of hopeful. I wasn’t surprised to get the call. I was probably more so surprised maybe a couple of other tours that I didn’t to be honest and that’s not in a bad way, but, I was always hopeful to get picked in and if was given an opportunity that I can do well and play well for Australia,” said Moises Henriques.

On replacing Faulkner

The addition of Moises Henriques pretty much means an end of the road for James Faulkner. Some pundits believe that the Australian career might pretty well be over for Faulkner. However, Henriques feels he cannot replace Faulkner. He believes that both of them are very different players.

“I don’t think James’ role would get filled by myself. I think maybe that was possibly more for someone like John Hastings or Marcus Stoinis, that’s certainly the message that I got delivered from the selectors,” said Henriques.

On CT Preparations

Speaking on the team preparations for the Champions Trophy, Moises Henriques remarked that the team has been practising well for over a week now. Most of the players have good match fitness since they were a part of the Indian Premier League prior to this tournament. The others, who did not play the IPL, worked hard at Brisbane.

“We’ve been over here for bit over a week now, glad to be training well. Obviously the guys who weren’t part of the IPL stayed back in Brisbane for the training camp and the guys that were part of the IPL were busy playing some limited-overs cricket. You never know how ready you’re until you’re out there in the game, and actually playing the game given the opportunity to perform,” he concluded.