Rizwan registers highest score by a Pakistani keeper this century

Pakistan were reduced to 16/3 after Babar Azam played a loose shot down the leg side. Not even 10 overs were done in the first Test at Rawalpindi, and Bangladeshi pacers were accurately bowling incisive lines. Pakistan’s plan of preparing a pacey track in Rawalpindi was backfiring. 

However, Saim Ayub and vice-captain Saud Shakeel rose to the occasion and had a solid partnership of 98 runs, which gave Pakistan the platform to build big. Mohammad Rizwan, who came after Ayub’s fall on 114/4, did exactly that. 

He maintained a steady tempo throughout his innings, as Shakeel held one end up, and ensured that Pakistan capitalised on the batting-friendly conditions on the second day. 

Rizwan scored 11 boundaries and three sixes in his 171*-run innings and stayed undefeated on the crease for 239 deliveries. 

He reached his hundred by dancing down the track against Shakib Al Hasan and hitting him for a four over mid-on. Shakeel also picked up pace after reaching his century and ended his innings on 141 on 261 deliveries. Their partnership was the fifth-highest fifth-wicket stand for Pakistan ever, allowing Shan Masood to declare the innings at 448/6. This was only the second instance of Pakistan declaring their first innings in a Test match in Rawalpindi. 

On the back of this knock, Rizwan became the fifth Pakistani wicketkeeper to score a Test 150, joining the likes of Rashid Latif and Kamran Akmal, among others. 

In fact, since his comeback after the New Zealand Test series at home, where he was dropped, no Pakistani batter has scored more runs than Rizwan, who’s scored 414 runs at an average of 103.50 since then. 

Most notably, no other Pakistani wicketkeeper has scored more than 158 runs (by Kamran Akmal in Karachi, 2009) in an innings this 21st century. Rizwan’s 171* is the highest score by a Pakistan wicketkeeper in 44 years, with Taslim Arif's 210* in Faisalabad in 1980 being the previous highest. 

Incidentally, his 171* is also the second-highest unbeaten score for a Pakistani wicketkeeper in Tests. 

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