Pakistan is set to start their home season with the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, with the opening one set to begin on August 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Islamabad. The team management has a good headache to choose between Mohammad Rizwan and their former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed as the wicket-keeper batter.
Both of them have done well in the longest format of the game. Mohammad Rizwan has been a regular for the Green Brigade across formats as they try to start fresh after a poor campaign in the United States of America (USA) during the recently concluded Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, where they were eliminated from the group stage of the event.
Mohammad Rizwan didn’t enjoy a great time with the bat in hand in the competition, but with five home Tests coming for the rest of the year before their away red-ball series in South Africa, the veteran will look to start brilliantly during the Bangladesh series.
Salman Butt picks Mohammad Rizwan for the opening Test vs Bangladesh
The former Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, during a YouTube live session, was asked to choose between Sarfaraz and Rizwan, to whom he believed that the latter is a better choice due to his better batting skills and developed wicket-keeping over the years.
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The 32-year-old Mohammad Rizwan has smashed 1616 runs in 30 Tests at an average of 40.40 with a strike rate of over 53, with the help of nine half-centuries and a couple of centuries with the best score of an unbeaten 115-run knock since making his debut eight years ago.
The former captain of the side in all three formats has collected 3031 runs in 54 games at an average of 37.41 with a strike rate of over 70, thanks to his 21 half-centuries and four centuries with a best score of 118.
“Overall, if you see, Mohammad Rizwan is a better choice. There is no doubt behind it. There is a difference in the wicket-keeping. He is as good as keeping in the batting department.” Salman Butt made his choice for the opening game of the series in Rawalpindi. “Sarfaraz plays spin so well, using his feet and trying to smash the spinners. But there is a difference between age too. So, Mohammad Rizwan is a better option, overall.”
During the live session, one of the fans asked if they had stopped speaking on the footwork of Sarfaraz. Butt replied that the discussion has gone down because of the experienced player playing more T20 leagues, where they usually look to smash the ball all the time.
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“Who says we don’t speak on his footwork? We do talk about it, but we mostly discuss his power-hitting. Regarding these, you don’t try to get to the pitch of the ball, you try to use your muscles to smash the ball at a full swing.” The former Pakistan leader shared during the session. “You try to get access full to the ball. So, we don’t discuss much about his footwork, because most of the players, nowadays, look to be part of different leagues around the world.”
With Pakistan set to go with an all-pace attack during the game, there could be a possibility of captain Shan Masood and head coach Jason Gillespie, going with both the players for the first Test. They are in the fifth position in the current cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), which makes the game more vital from the hosts’ perspective.