Nicholas Pooran: “Babar and Rizwan have been fantastic this year”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran said Pakistan captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan “have been fantastic this year”.
Azam and Rizwan have consistently scored runs in all three formats on a regular basis.
Azam recently broke the record for the most runs scored by a batsman in their maiden T20 World Cup appearance.
The 27-year-old amassed 303 runs in six games, which included four fifties, at an average of 60.60 and a strike-rate of 126.25.
Rizwan, meanwhile, accumulated 281 runs in six matches, which included three half-centuries, at an average of 70.25 and a strike-rate of 127.72.
As for the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh, Azam only made 27 runs at an average of nine and a strike-rate of 67.50.
Rizwan, however, scored 90 runs at an average of 30 and a strike-rate of 90.90.
In the two-Test series that followed, Azam bounced back by scoring 99 runs, which included a top score of 76, at an average of 49.50.
Rizwan struck 58 runs, which included a top score of 53 not out, at an average of 58.
Most recently, Azam accumulated 86 runs, which included a top score of 79, at an average of 28.66 and a strike-rate of 138.70 in the three-match T20 series against the West Indies, which Pakistan won 3-0.
Rizwan, meanwhile, amassed 203 runs in three matches, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 67.66 and a strike-rate of 159.84.
“Babar and Rizwan have been fantastic this year,” Pooran was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.