Even though Pakistan didn’t enjoy a great week during the opening game of the two-match Test series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium with their maiden defeat to Bangladesh in the format by a 10-wicket margin, their star wicket-keeper batter, Mohammad Rizwan, has come up with quality performances in both the innings with the bat.
When they were struggling during the first innings at 114/3 in the second session, Mohammad Rizwan shared a valuable partnership of 240 runs for the fifth wicket, as he kept on playing the big shots to put the Bangladesh bowlers under tremendous pressure.
The wicket-keeper batter stayed unbeaten on 171 runs in that innings, which was decorated with 11 boundaries and three sixes at a strike rate of over 70 before their captain Shan Masood decided to declare the inning on 448/6.
Mohammad Rizwan cracks for runs in a WTC game as a wicket-keeper batter
A couple of special performances led Mohammad Rizwan to have 1838 runs in the 50 innings of the longest format of the game at an average of around 44 with a strike rate of over 50, thanks to his ten half-centuries and three centuries with a best score of unbeaten 171-runs.
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In the second innings, the team was again under pressure as they kept on losing wickets consistently. The 32-year-old was there only hope, but he wasn’t getting the support from the other end.
Still, the right-handed batter contributed with a 51-run knock in 80 deliveries at a strike rate of over 60, shouldering on six boundaries. He finished the Test match with 222 runs, which is now the most runs for a Pakistan wicket-keeper batter in a red-ball game, surpassing Taslim Arif against Australia in Faisalabad in 1980, who smashed an unbeaten 210 in the first innings and didn’t bat in the second.
This also is now the most runs being scored by a wicket-keeper batter in the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, going past the previous record of India’s Rishabh Pant. The young left-handed dynamic batter smashed 203 runs during their rescheduled red-ball game against England at Edgbaston in July 2023.
Mohammad Rizwan, who top-scored for Pakistan in both innings during the game, earlier broke the record of Jos Buttler’s 152 runs in a WTC match by a wicket-keeper batter.
The veteran has displayed some fabulous skills with wicket-keeping gloves during their only innings of fielding. As a team, Pakistan didn’t enjoy the game at all, as they went downhill in the second innings in the batting department after being handed over a 117-run deficit from the visiting side.
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There was hardly any intent from the home side batters, even after having not much pressure of a run-chase in the fourth innings. Bangladesh quite easily chased down the target of 30 runs in 6.4 overs to register their first Test victory over Pakistan with ten wickets.
The Green Brigade dropped down in the WTC points table at number eight as they look forward to registering their first red-ball win at home after a long wait when they meet for the second game of the series on August 30.