Mohammad Rizwan: “When I started playing international cricket, I felt Josh Hazlewood was the toughest I faced. But now it is Jasprit Bumrah”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan picked India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as the toughest bowler he has faced.
Rizwan admitted that when he first started his international career, he would have selected Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood.
However, given Bumrah’s incredible rise and his reputation as a bowler who can be unplayable at times, the 33-year-old had to put the Indian superstar at number one on the list of the most difficult bowlers to play against.
“When I started playing international cricket, I felt Josh Hazlewood was the toughest I faced. But now it is Jasprit Bumrah,” Rizwan was quoted as saying by NDTV.
The Peshawar native recently captained Pakistan in their three-match ODI series against New Zealand and scored 72 runs in three games at an average of 24.
He then led the Multan Sultans in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and finished with 367 runs in 10 matches, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 52.42 and a strike-rate of 139.54.
Despite batting brilliantly in PSL 10, Rizwan was not picked for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which the men in green won 3-0.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Mirpur from July 20 to 24.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub