Sunil Gavaskar: “Rizwan is the kind of player who can take the game away from the opposition. He is a very cheeky player. He knows how to play and adjust his game according to the needs of the side”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary India batsman Sunil Gavaskar has called Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan a “very cheeky player” as he is versatile and “can take the game away from the opposition.”
Rizwan has done this time and time again in all three formats over the past couple of years, which is why he is one of Pakistan’s best batsmen.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, the 31-year-old from Peshawar was one of the team’s top performers as he scored 395 runs in nine matches, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 65.83.
“Rizwan is the kind of player who can take the game away from the opposition. He is a very cheeky player. He knows how to play and adjust his game according to the needs of the side,” Gavaskar told Star Sports as quoted by NDTV.
Pakistan won their first two World Cup games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
Pakistan’s campaign ended on a sour note as they lost to England by 93 runs.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali