Mohammad Rizwan crisped 75 runs off 46 deliveries to help Pakistan pull one back against Ireland in the three-match T20I series with a seven wicket win in the second T20I on Sunday.
Rizwan has been Pakistan’s leading run scorer in the format since 2020, amassing 2944 runs from 79 matches at a staggering average of 57.72. In fact, Rizwan is one of the only two T20I players with an average above 50 (having scored a minimum of 1000 runs in the format). The other being Virat Kohli.
However, speaking post-match, Rizwan gave little value to the numbers. "I don’t look at my numbers, if you look at the average, you are an average player. If you look at the match situation and the conditions then it’s better," Rizwan said.
On him being the only other batter alongside Kohli to boast a 50 plus average, Rizwan heaped praise of the former India skipper. "He is a good player and we learnt a lot from him, I respect him."
It is some coincidence that Kohli himself has recently played down the weight placed on statistics – namely his strike rate in the format.
It was only last month that the RCB opener lashed out on his critics. "All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones talking about this stuff. For me, it’s about winning games for the team and there’s a reason why you’ve done it for 15 years, you’ve done this day in and day out, you’ve won games for your teams," Kohli had said.
The comeback
Rizwan’s innings on Sunday had come on the back of early blows for Pakistan, chasing 194 against a team that had got the better of them on Friday in the first T20I.
While Saim Ayub was removed in the first over by Mark Adair, skipper Babar Azam was sent back to the dressing room for a golden duck by Graham Hume in the second over.
It was from here that Rizwan stitched together a 140-run stand for the third wicket with Fakhar Zaman (78) before seeing the game through with Azam Khan (30 off 10).
"If you look at the whole match, they played really well. So have to credit them guys. Chasing 194 is not easy as Ireland know the conditions and they gave difficult time early on but we decide to attack and this is why we were successful. You always feel pressure when we lose," Rizwan said afterwards.
"It’s a relief to be honest," skipper Babar Azam conceded as the series went into the decider.
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