AB de Villiers: “He is a fighter and a fantastic player under pressure, so I have no doubt he will come through”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
AB de Villiers, the former South Africa batsman, is confident Mohammad Rizwan will shine at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India as he is a “fighter” and “fantastic player” who thrives in pressure situations.
De Villiers had said that Rizwan had been slightly inconsistent at the number four spot and would like to see more from him.
Despite this small criticism, the Proteas legend is backing the 31-year-old from Peshawar to light up the World Cup.
“He is a fighter and a fantastic player under pressure, so I have no doubt he will come through,” he said in a YouTube video.
Rizwan recently batted as a substitute for Sarfaraz Ahmed during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo and made 50 not out.
He subsequently played in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan and scored 90 runs, which included a top score of 67, at an average of 30.
His most recent assignment was the Asia Cup, where he amassed 195 runs in five games, which included two fifties, at an average of 97.50.
Pakistan started with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was rained off.
Having advanced to the Super Four stage, the men in green maintained their momentum with a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Things started to fall apart after this as they lost to India by 228 runs.
Pakistan still had an opportunity to book their spot in the Asia Cup final, but they failed as they succumbed to a two-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve:Â Tayyab Tahir