Rizwan was one of the champions of Pakistan’s return to the field. Batting as the opener, ‘Man of the Match’ smashed a 46-ball 75 as the visitors chased down a demanding 193 for 7 posted by Ireland, who stunned Pakistan by winning the opening match by five wickets.
Pakistan’s chase got off to a menacing start when opener Saim Ayub (6) and skipper Babar Azam (0) were dropped early, leaving the visitors at 13 for 2 in the second quarter. Rizwan then launched a counter-attack along with the wish of Fakhar Zaman, who hit a packed knock of 78 off 40 balls.
They added 140 runs for the third wicket to write the script for Pakistan to win by seven wickets. Wicketkeeper Azam Khan scored a rakish 30 balls, not 10 balls.
In his post-match presentation speech, Rizwan candidly admitted about the influence of Indian batting legend Kohli on Pakistani batsmen.
Rizwan’s reply came when he was asked whether Kohli and himself are the only two batsmen to average above 50 in T20Is.
“We have learned many things from Virat Kohli; I respect him,” Rizwan said.
Kohli is averaging 51.75 in T20Is, scoring 4037 runs in 109 innings at a strike rate of 138.15. On the other hand, Rizwan averages 50.38 in T20Is during his 3124 runs in 82 innings, which resulted in a strike rate of 127.92.
About the match and his partnership with Zaman, Rizwan said: “It wasn’t an effortless chase as the Irish bowlers knew their conditions better. They gave us a challenging time at the beginning but we decided that while chasing 194 we had to attack. I am always under pressure when I lose, especially when the World Cup (T20) is just around the corner.”
The T20 World Cup will be held from June 2-29 in the USA and West Indies. India and Pakistan are in the same group and will face each other on June 9 in Up-to-date York.
The decisive third T20I between Pakistan and Ireland will be played on May 14, after which the Babar Azam-led team will travel to England where they will play four T20Is and then fly to the United States for the T20 World Cup.
