Mickey Arthur: “He’s world-class now”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, said wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has transformed into a “world-class” player.
Just a few years ago, Rizwan has not used regularly as he was behind Sarfaraz Ahmed when it came to the go-to wicketkeeper-batsmen in the national team.
Fast forward to today and he is the first-choice pick, especially in T20Is and ODIs. In Tests, it seems Sarfaraz has overtaken him once again, but it is possible that the 31-year-old could be used as a specialist batsman in the future.
Nonetheless, Rizwan has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom in a short space of time.
“He’s world-class now,” Arthur was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Rizwan recently played in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, where he scored an unbeaten 50 in the second Test in Colombo after coming on as a concussion substitute for Sarfaraz.
The 31-year-old from Peshawar is now set to feature in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, which will be held in Sri Lanka from August 22 to 26.
After that, the men in green will feature in the Asia Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for Afghanistan ODI Series and 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr