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Follow UsMohammad Rizwan averages 40.15 in ODIs with a strike rate of 89.80. In T20Is, these numbers are 48.72 and 126.45 respectively. If you leave his T20I strike rate aside, it would be hard to call any of these numbers poor. However, if you ask a typical Pakistani fan, they wouldn't be so confident about Rizwan’s white-ball ability.
That seems in total contrast to his biggest moment of fame - playing the T20 World Cup semifinal after coming straight from the hospital. That format, the World Cup and his opening partnership with Babar Azam established him in Pakistan’s public imagination.
However, after the T20 World Cup final in 2022, his stocks in the Pakistani team went down rapidly. Bad turned worse when he was dropped from the Test side by December 2022 after the home Test series against England, in which he scored 29,46, 10, 30, 19, and 7.
Issues were surfacing in his batting technique, with his feeble off-side game being exposed as a big weakness. From being amongst the leaders and probably the next in line to be the captain, he was now fighting for a place on this side.
Before him, many Pakistani wicketkeepers in Test cricket history have emerged like this and faded quickly after encountering a slump like Rizwan’s. The system is brutal, and fairness is a naive fool’s word. That’s why only eight Pakistani keepers have scored more than 1000 runs in Test cricket; amongst them, only one averages above 40.
Rizwan made a Test comeback against Sri Lanka in Colombo and scored an unbeaten 50 in that game. Since then, he has scored 42,35, 88, and 28 in Australia, and now 171* in the first Test against Bangladesh.
That’s 414 runs at an average of 103.5!
And if you want to know the reason behind his spectacular success since his Colombo comeback, go no further than the 171 unbeaten runs he scored at Pindi.
Coming in to bat at 114/4 after Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel had laid down the base for a solid first innings score, Rizwan had two jobs essentially.
a) Make sure he stays on the crease
b) Moving the scoreboard at a steady pace
Rizwan did both jobs to perfection. Despite playing 134 out of his 239 deliveries as dots, he looked busy when he came to bat because he kept rotating the strike and getting the occasional boundary.
Once he was set, he easily picked up the length from the Bangladeshi pacers and even smashed Nahid Rana and Shoriful Islam for a six each. When Shakib Al Hasan did the mistake of floating a ball up to him before the second new ball, he came down the track and heaved him over mid-wicket for a biggie.
However, the fours that he hit on the off-side to the pacers really showed his expanding range as a batter. He’s no longer just a leg-side merchant. He scored 92 runs against the pacers in his innings, with 66(77) of them coming in the off side.
While pacer Hasan Mahmud tested him on a short and full length outside the off stump, Rana peppered him with short deliveries. However, Rizwan was majestic in dealing with Mahmud and struck crisp shots towards deep point and cover. Against Rana, he even brought the ramp shot into play twice in the same over. Looking at him bat with so much ease and intent against pace, Shakeel just kept giving the strike back to him, and Rizwan didn’t let the opportunities desert him.
Against the spinner, he was prolific in his sweep shots and heaves towards the leg side, as both off-spinners, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib, bowled into his body quite a bit. Of the 79 runs he scored against spin, 53 came on the leg side.
This was not just a new version of Rizwan with an expanded range; it was also a version that was much more mature and strategic in his own game plan. His running between the wickets was a big part of his innings, as he took 76 singles, 12 doubles, and three 3s. In the end, all that running under the hot Pindi sun cramped him up. However, he kept going until Shan Masood didn’t declare the innings at 448/6.
Since his comeback, this has been the template for Rizwan, and it has worked wonders for the middle-order batter. The consistency with which he has played in the last six innings in three different countries just highlights the substance behind his versatility.
His 171* wasn’t just a one-off innings. It was in the banks and was waiting for the right opportunity to show up. Pindi’s batting-friendly conditions, Bangladesh’s inexperienced bowling and his own genius came together to put on a spectacular show for Pakistan and cement his status as their batting backbone.
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