Andy Flower: “He obviously has a very strong faith, but he’s also been hugely successful as an international sportsperson”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Andy Flower, who coaches the Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), said Mohammad Rizwan’s faith is incredibly strong.
He noted that the 31-year-old is one of the top cricketers in the world right now, but he never does anything to jeopardise his reputation.
Instead, he remains very humble and concentrates on working hard so that he can maintain his success at the international level.
“He obviously has a very strong faith, but he’s also been hugely successful as an international sportsperson. But on top of that – I think it has something to do with his strong faith actually – he keeps his humility,” Flower told ESPNcricinfo.
“He’s a great example to all the Pakistani cricketers and the international cricketers in our dressing room on how you can be a really high performer but also be very humble with it.”
Rizwan was brilliant during PSL 8 as he was the highest run-scorer with 550 runs in 12 matches for the Sultans, which included a century and four fifties, at an average of 55 and a strike-rate of 142.85.
The Peshawar-born cricketer then played in Pakistan’s limited overs series against New Zealand, where he amassed 162 runs in five T20Is, which included two fifties, at an average of 54 and a strike-rate of 139.65.
Rizwan then accumulated 161 runs in five ODIs, which included a top score of 54 not out, at an average of 53.66.
He will now represent the national team in their upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which will be held in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood