Mohammad Rizwan continued his exceptional run of form in T20 cricket on Wednesday, striking an unbeaten 82 off 61 balls for Pakistan against Zimbabwe.
Recently named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for his performances in England last summer, Rizwan has been in scintillating touch in the 20-over game in recent months.
Across his last nine T20I innings – stretching back to December 2020 – Rizwan has hit 515 runs at an average of 103 and strike rate of 145.07. Along the way there have been five half-centuries and a century too – Rizwan has now reached three figures across all formats for Pakistan.
During this stellar T20I run, Rizwan was among the runs in the PSL too. Prior to the tournament coming to a halt due to a Covid-19 outbreak, Rizwan sat at the top of the tournament’s run-scoring charts with 297 runs at an average of 59.40 and strike rate of 140.09.
A promotion to the top of the order during last year’s tour of New Zealand has clearly benefitted Rizwan, with his T20I batting average of 79.14 as an opener the highest among Pakistanis to have batted in the same position. Prior to taking on the role, Rizwan averaged 16.81 in T20I cricket from 15 innings, with his strike rate a lowly 96.35.
While opening the batting, Rizwan has fulfilled his duties as a wicketkeeper too. In the last 12 months, no wicket-keeper to have batted in at least three T20I innings has averaged as much (79.14). Among all batsmen, no-one has scored as many T20I runs in the last year, with Rizwan having hit 554 runs in 12 innings. Second on the list is the No.1-ranked T20I batsman in the world, Dawid Malan, who has hit 534 runs in 14 innings in the same period. It’s been quite the year for the 28-year-old from Peshawar.
