Can Mohammad Rizwan open the batting in Tests?

[Babar_Azam_fan]

I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but looking at the drought when it comes to openers is it worth a try?

Over the years Hafeez, Shahzad, Shan, Sami, Imam, Abid no one has secured their places

Nor is there any half decent opener in quarter decent domestic QeA trophy

But there are so many middle order options
Saud
Kamran
Agha

Should Pakistan try Rizwan as an opener? He can score (even if 30) quick and that can put the opposition under pressure than current openers taking 25 balls to get off the mark


This would be my (realistic)line up

01. Azhar Ali (He isn’t going anywhere and nor can you drop all the experienced players at once. Also him blunting the new ball would be some what useful than freezing the scoreboard in the middle order)

02. Mohammad Rizwan + (He can keep the scoreboard ticking)

03. Babar Azam * (He has to move up and take the responsibility)

04. (I ul Haq/ K Ghulam/ S Masood) (Let’s see if Imam or Shan does well down the order)

05. Fawad Alam (Temporary fix)

06. (Saud Shakeel) (Deserves a try)

07. (Agha Salman/ Mohammad Nawaz/ Shadab Khan) (Basically your 5th bowler)

08. F Ashraf/ (N Ali/ S Khan/ Z Gohar) (4th Seamer or Genuine Spinner and everyone can hold the bat, especially Faheem and Gohar can easily avg 25+ with the bat)

09. (Hassan Ali) (Looks to be fit and in form, deserves a look in the SA series)

10. Shaheen Afridi

11. (S Khan/ M Abbas/ N Shah/ W Maqsood) (Basically all are as useless as it can get, unfortunately no quality bowler to make the team on merit)

 

[Amjid Javed]

Rizwan opening as well as keeping?

Imam or Shan in middle order?



sorry that just a new disaster and should not be looked at what so ever.

 

[Ab Fan]

No

 

[Mesozoic]

There's a reason why wicket keepers almost never open in Test cricket....

Heck I don't remember the last keeper who played even in the top 5.

 

[Rana]

He and Fawad both can tbh

We need 4 new batsmen to replace Abid, Shan, Azhar, Harris

Babar
Imran
Saud
Imam maybe

 

[Amjid Javed]

whats this fascination with failing openers in middle order? we have plenty of middle order players we could look at but we should instead use Imam?

 

[Hasan123]

Pakistan fans lose the plot when a player starts performing well. He is a wicket keeper batsmen. Just leave him to that.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Pakistan fans lose the plot when a player starts performing well. He is a wicket keeper batsmen. Just leave him to that.

Glad someone can see sense.

 

[Bewal Express]

Please stop this nonsense. The guy is an excellent WK/bats, lets leave one of our genuine World class players to just be.

 

[GudduBadmash]

He's a keeper, would probably break his back if he was to open aswell.

 

[FreePalestine]

No

 

[MMHS]

The basic lack of understanding of cricket game is mind blowing- after spending hours everyday in cricket blogs!!!!

Rizwan is a WK, now in great batting form and he is delivering as late middle order against old ball, often under crisis - so next step is to throw him against new ball (& if PAK bowls first means after several hours of keeping)..... last time I read someone to suggest taking gloves out of Rizwan’s hand, bat him at 3 and play Ruhail as WK who is 125% better batsman & 200% better WK than Rishav Pant......

I have a better suggestion- the way Abbas, Shaheen & even Naseem survived against pacers, better sent them as 1-2-3 ... they can score at the similar rate of PAK top 3 and probably can survive more balls - that’ll lengthen the batting line-up as well.

 

[Hyperion66]

No offence to the OP but this is one of those "Kuch bhi" threads. Aab spin bowling bhi karalo usse, Yasir se toh achha hi dalega

 

[angrypathan]

May as well have him open the bowling and keep off it too

 

[Abdullah Rabbani]

He and Fawad both can tbh

We need 4 new batsmen to replace Abid, Shan, Azhar, Harris

Babar
Imran
Saud
Imam maybe

Just 4 new batsman from current lot saud, usman, agha, opener's sharjeel and imam worth try for future omair, haider, rohail and abdullah

 

[Justcrazy]

It's a bad idea.

You need to find better specialist top order batsmen

 

[ask_analyse_act]

There's a reason why wicket keepers almost never open in Test cricket....

Heck I don't remember the last keeper who played even in the top 5.

Sangakkara

 

[Rana]

It's a bad idea.

You need to find better specialist top order batsmen

I think OP is impressed with Rizwan and Fawad’s ability to play the new ball in 2nd session of day 5 as compared to the uselessness of Abid and Shan on this tour.

He is right in that regard, I would rather have those two dealing with the new ball instead of hopeless Shan and Abid

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Seriously making WK open in test cricket , can but he shouldn’t keep wickets. should give to someone else may be Rohail should keep wickets.

But Rizwan to face the new ball in test cricket, does he has the skills to do so. Well that doesn’t mean I say the current openers have lol

 

[moghul]

Only a person who does not know much about cricket can come up with this idea.

 

[UzmanBeast]

Rizwan is a competent and reliable batsman on the team. He is the last player who should be moved from his position. If needed, we can ask him to bat higher at 6 or 5, but that's it. He is one of the only batsmen who is performing right now, and we cannot turn him into an Azhar Ali or Abid Ali just because we want to.

 

[Rana]

Rizwan is a competent and reliable batsman on the team. He is the last player who should be moved from his position. If needed, we can ask him to bat higher at 6 or 5, but that's it. He is one of the only batsmen who is performing right now, and we cannot turn him into an Azhar Ali or Abid Ali just because we want to.

He should bat at 5 (full-stop), and Fawad at 4.

This isnt the last of what we have seen of Fawad+Rizwan’s fighting partnerships.

 

[Kroll]

No, just because the selectors/coaches/current openers/"insert your own leeches here" are useless doesn't mean Rizwan comes in to clean up the mess.

Put Imam in there and perhaps move Azhar back to opening as a temporary measure until management can come up with new master plan.

What is a given is that both Masood and Abid need to be booted.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Combined with his slow but steady opening in T20I cricket and the way he plays the new red ball in Test cricket, Rizwan’s convinced me he can open in ODI cricket haha.

But no I would keep him at 6, or at most 5 in red ball. Probably 6 as he seems to be doing fantastic with the rearguard.

 

[Mesozoic]

Sangakkara

Yeah I think he was the last one. Though he gave up the gloves in 2005 and played most of his Test career as a specialist bat.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

He's a keeper/bat. No higher than 6 should he bat. He scores plenty of runs against the old kookaburra. Not sure he would be as good against fresh bowlers with a new cherry in hand.

 

[shamaan]

I think he should bat at 5 or 6 but he should not be in the top 4

 

[Rana]

He's a keeper/bat. No higher than 6 should he bat. He scores plenty of runs against the old kookaburra. Not sure he would be as good against fresh bowlers with a new cherry in hand.

He will have to negotiate a new ball either way, he won’t be able to avoid the new red cherry unless he bats at 4/5

 

[Nikhil_cric]

He will have to negotiate a new ball either way, he won’t be able to avoid the new red cherry unless he bats at 4/5

Yeah but not the same as facing pacers in their first spells.

 

[Titan24]

He is the only batsman after Babar who is performing in a position he plays in and actually seems to be improving. So why change something which is working?

He cant open the batting while keeping for 90 overs or so despite his good fitness and not to forget he has played in the middle order almost throughout his career.

It would be better for Pak to think about rest of the team and which players to slot in rather than disturbing the players who are atleast doing something.

 

[Snatch]

No his technique isn't tight enough to open in Tests

 

[UzmanBeast]

He should bat at 5 (full-stop), and Fawad at 4.

This isnt the last of what we have seen of Fawad+Rizwan’s fighting partnerships.

For now we should have him bat at 6 with Fawad at 5 and Babar at 4. We should have a person at 3 who is capable of opening and negotiating the new ball.

 

[moghul]

No his technique isn't tight enough to open in Tests

Exactly, he gives too many chances out sides the off stumps , plays away from the body, can survive when ball is old and not moving much, but as opener, he will fail.

 

[Muhammad]

I think he should be opening with Faheem, they showed great understanding during their first innings partnership. Rizwan can hold up his end and Faheem be the aggressor. That will be the ideal solution to our opening woes.

If it impacts on his keeping then we have the experienced Sarfraz waiting in the wings to take the gloves.

 

[Square Drive]

In ODIs and T20s (for now), yes. But not in Tests.

 

[The Viper]

It would be a waste of his skillset and that would be an enormous burden on a keeper.

You should never change something that works, Rizwan solidifies our lower order.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Yeah I think he was the last one. Though he gave up the gloves in 2005 and played most of his Test career as a specialist bat.

Indeed wanna say that he gave up gloves to prasanna jayawardena I think but the 2 min limit to edit posts has passed. So just left it as it was

 

[DandyFellow]

The thread should be about Rizwan opening the batting in ODIs and the answer for that is yes. In tests every position is a specialist position for which the designated players need to have prior experience through domestic.

 

[OhTwadi]

No, please don't.

 

[Bigboii]

nope

 

[moghul]

I think he should be opening with Faheem, they showed great understanding during their first innings partnership. Rizwan can hold up his end and Faheem be the aggressor. That will be the ideal solution to our opening woes.

If it impacts on his keeping then we have the experienced Sarfraz waiting in the wings to take the gloves.

Opening a test inning with Faheem and Rizwan, genius. Good to see some real experts now joining the discussion. And, If Shaheen Afridi, manage to score some runs in future, why not try him too.

 

[wrongun]

Guys like Alec Stewart of England managed keeping and opening, but not for his entire career. He shifted between opener/keeper, middle order/keeper & pure batsman opener as keeping all day plus opening really affected his returns with the bat & he was one of Englands best batsmen.

 

[omairsiddiqui]

We should also have him bowl a few overs while we're at it.

 

[moghul]

We should also have him bowl a few overs while we're at it.

Agree, if one guy performs in a test, will try our best to unsettle his carrier by making all sort of experiments on him.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Guys like Alec Stewart of England managed keeping and opening, but not for his entire career. He shifted between opener/keeper, middle order/keeper & pure batsman opener as keeping all day plus opening really affected his returns with the bat & he was one of Englands best batsmen.

Stewart averaged 44 as an opener during the 90s, the England management were absolute morons for handing him the gloves and shuffling him around the batting order.

 

[Baigel]

The Rizwan hype train has left the station

 

[Babar_Azam_fan]

Fawad has shown that technique ain’t a big thing but it’s the determination. Can Pakistan afford to try this?


Azhar (R)
Rizwan + (R)
Saud (L)
Babar * (R)
Fawad (L)
Kamran (R)
Faheem (L)

 

[shamaan]

Defonitely not Rizwan has got a big job of keeping he should bat down the order when the ball is older

 

[Babar_Azam_fan]

Any thoughts on this after watching the two criminals open the batting.

Abid and Imran getting out for nothing is painful. But them batting for long is more painful

 

[enigmatic_stani]

Any thoughts on this after watching the two criminals open the batting.

Abid and Imran getting out for nothing is painful. But them batting for long is more painful

Yes thoughts are only people who have no idea on how gruelling test keeping can be would want them to open after potentially having kept wicket for hours or even days.

 

[Zeshan547]

Yes thoughts are only people who have no idea on how gruelling test keeping can be would want them to open after potentially having kept wicket for hours or even days.

Maybe they think it's BRIAN LARA cricket in real life and you can swap batsman like those bots. Or you just wonder the cricketing intelligence of these so called cricket fans.

 

[Attiq_Lone]

Keepers usually do not open in test and there is a reason for that. I don't think rizwan will have the patience to see off the new ball, the seam movement in tests is different from LOIs, Keepers are generally used at the backend to accelerate the innings (i.e. what Sarfraz used to do early before his captaincy or What Rishab Pant does for India). Don't think it would be wise to open with Rizwan in tests.

Imam and Shan should be your openers in test matches if not the Usman Salahuddin is the best option from domestic:

Imam Usman, Azhar/Saud, Babar, Fawad, Rizwan. This should be a good enough top 6

 

[Attiq_Lone]

Keepers usually do not open in test and there is a reason for that. I don't think rizwan will have the patience to see off the new ball, the seam movement in tests is different from LOIs, Keepers are generally used at the backend to accelerate the innings (i.e. what Sarfraz used to do early before his captaincy or What Rishab Pant does for India). Don't think it would be wise to open with Rizwan in tests.

Imam and Shan should be your openers in test matches if not the Usman Salahuddin is the best option from domestic:

Imam Usman, Azhar/Saud, Babar, Fawad, Rizwan. This should be a good enough top 6

Also, the length the keeper has to stay on the field makes him a bit exhausted to open straight away after the inning break, and that's the reason you go with actual openers who have experience of opening the innings at domestic level

 

[TheNightWatchman]

No way. Opening the batting in LOIs is one thing. Test cricket is a whole different story. There's a reason specialist openers are played at the top.
He's in good form but you're asking too much from Rizzu

 

[street cricketer]

Anybody who asks a wicket keeper to open the innings in a test has never watched Test cricket in his life.

 

[Hasan123]

I think in tests he is fine where he is. But you have to look at his ability to score big in T20s and say him opening in ODIs is not a bad shout.

 

[wajid]

Only if he he is there purely as a batsman. Which doesn’t makes any sense becoz even if u draft in Sarfaraz or rohail, Rizwan still should keep as he is the best keeper in the country. In tests we should have our best keeper behind the stumps.

 

[shamaan]

No way should he be opening he's fine were he is.

 

[gazza619]

Mohammad Rizwan as a specialist Test Opener?

I have been saying this in many threads for a while now, the best solution for Pakistan’s test opening problems is for M Rizwan to give up the gloves and open the batting. This will also clear up a spot in the lower middle order for the talented Rohail Nazir (or if you fancy going back to the oldie Sarfaraz?)

This really is the best way forward. If India with all the gazillion talents in the world has ended up with opening with Rohit Sharma in test cricket, then I dont see why cant we eat our pride and show a bit of common sense here.

 

[Bewal Express]

I have been saying this in many threads for a while now, the best solution for Pakistan’s test opening problems is for M Rizwan to give up the gloves and open the batting. This will also clear up a spot in the lower middle order for the talented Rohail Nazir (or if you fancy going back to the oldie Sarfaraz?)

This really is the best way forward. If India with all the gazillion talents in the world has ended up with opening with Rohit Sharma in test cricket, then I dont see why cant we eat our pride and show a bit of common sense here.

So you want to put Riz in a position where he hasnt ever batted in tests. No, let Riz become the foundation middle or lower middle order.

 

[Titan24]

I have been saying this in many threads for a while now, the best solution for Pakistan’s test opening problems is for M Rizwan to give up the gloves and open the batting. This will also clear up a spot in the lower middle order for the talented Rohail Nazir (or if you fancy going back to the oldie Sarfaraz?)

This really is the best way forward. If India with all the gazillion talents in the world has ended up with opening with Rohit Sharma in test cricket, then I dont see why cant we eat our pride and show a bit of common sense here.

I am not really sure about Rizwan's technique against a new red ball. Yes as a keeper batsman he does bat against the second new ball on occasions but, opening the test innings on sometimes surfaces with moisture and in different conditions around the world can be a different ball game.

Also that would mean management should be willing to take the risk of not having Rizwan at no 6 as he has been a key figure at that number in recent times.

I doubt there is going to be even a slight thought from management in that direction and if do have think than its extremely important to take Rizwan on board and understand if he is comfortable and willing to do that.

Also we shoudnt forget that having Rizwan behind the stumps provides quality and one of the best keepers in the world if not the best.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

I have been saying this in many threads for a while now, the best solution for Pakistan’s test opening problems is for M Rizwan to give up the gloves and open the batting. This will also clear up a spot in the lower middle order for the talented Rohail Nazir (or if you fancy going back to the oldie Sarfaraz?)

This really is the best way forward. If India with all the gazillion talents in the world has ended up with opening with Rohit Sharma in test cricket, then I dont see why cant we eat our pride and show a bit of common sense here.

Mental gymnastics people do just to bring back Sarfraz back in the team. Why the hell would you want your best wicketkeeper to give up gloves just to accommodate toxic Sarfraz

 

[Firebat]

His rugged, energetic, twitchy batting style wouldn't work opening the batting I think, more to play middle order counter attacks. A dismissal like this one where he walks across his stumps and completely loses balance and head position is not an openers technique.

 

[Extra_Cover]

Firstly it would be very stupid to ask Rizwan let go off gloves. He is arguably the best pure keeper we have ever fielded.

Now add to that Rizwan has been one of the main reasons for our batting not collapsing totally and being able to put up some fight in overseas conditions. Rizwan is currently averaging 40+ and is an amazing keeper, why on earth would you want to change any of that?

 

[Barragan]

Worst idea of all time!!

Leave him where he is and there is a huge difference between opening in Tests and LOI.

Even the great Gilchrist didn't open in Tests

 

[moghul]

There are too many cricket experts here , with there own ideas which does not make any sense to the people who know cricket and have played good cricket. Now Rizwan is doing fine in middle order and some "expert's " want to convert him a test opener, bravo.