Mohammad Rizwan : Pakistan's most versatile batsman for a long time

[hussain.r97]

He needs to improve his game against the spinners early on. Get stuck at the crease and looks ungainly while playing forward-defense, but the important thing is that he fights through it rather holding on to log-on or deep mid-wicket out of frustration, looking to release the pressure by hitting a maximum.

I think he needs to improve against leg spin/left arm spin in general. Has looked comfortable against the offies, but a little unsettled against the likes of Cremer and Williams. Perhaps batting in the spin net during trainings more often would be beneficial. If he can play Yasir in the nets, he can play anyone.

 

[Mamoon]

I think he needs to improve against leg spin/left arm spin in general. Has looked comfortable against the offies, but a little unsettled against the likes of Cremer and Williams. Perhaps batting in the spin net during trainings more often would be beneficial. If he can play Yasir in the nets, he can play anyone.

He is naturally a top-order batsman and it is understandable that he is not very comfortable against spin early in his innings, but gets better as he spends time at the crease, gets his hands and feet moving.

 

[Red Devil]

Best thing about his game is how easily and regularly he rotates the strike, and that's something that was missing form our batting for quite some time.

Wouldn't mind if he gets promoted up the order after a while.

 

[Madplayer]

Azhar
new opener (Babar Azam perhaps)
Haris
Sarfraz
Malik
Rizwan

This is without question our best top 6 in ODIs at the moment. Shehzad is rubbish and Hafeez too inconsistent, and he will be 38 at the time of the 2019 World Cup and cannot bowl anymore so it is logical to move on from him.

add imad at 7 and its a very formidable batting lineup capable of performing in all conditions.

 

[hussain.r97]

He is naturally a top-order batsman and it is understandable that he is not very comfortable against spin early in his innings, but gets better as he spends time at the crease, gets his hands and feet moving.

That is true, but he will need to adjust to his new role, temporary or permanent. I think he can definitely do it, just needs to spend time facing more spin. Looking at where he's batting, he will have to face spin early in his innings quite often, and with the top order extremely packed, I don't think that's changing anytime soon.

 

[Mamoon]

add imad at 7 and its a very formidable batting lineup capable of performing in all conditions.

I would personally prefer Imad at number 8. He is a decent batsman but batting one position too high in my opinion.

However at the moment, there are no alternatives to him at number 7, but I'm talking long run.

If Imad is your number 7 against the likes of Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England etc., then I believe you do have a problem with your batting depth.

Other teams have players like Mitch Marsh, Moeen Ali/Stokes, Corey/Ronchi, Miller etc. who can bat at this number, and they are more accomplished batsmen than Imad and Anwar.

It is disappointing that Sarfraz has failed lower down the order, otherwise he could have played at number 7 and we could have played someone like Babar Azam at 4 or maybe some other middle-order batsman, with Imad and Anwar still to come.

Now that is real batting depth.
Same goes for Anwar Ali at number 7.

 

[Bilal7]

Haven't see him bat against a top class pace attack, nor have we seen him handle the pressure of a 350+ run chase, yet. People are understandably excited for him but we shouldn't go overboard with it. Maqsood started off like this too but then a few flaws in his batting were exposed when he came up against the big teams and when he hit a bad patch, nearly everyone here got off the bandwagon.

He is a quality player so I hope people still support him when he struggles at times in the future, which is inevitable.

 

[Mamoon]

True, but the good thing is that he does not hit every ball in the air.

Both Haris and Rizwan have exhibited this quality, something that is very rare in young Pakistani batsmen.

 

[last_knight]

And he hasn't played in long format yet which is his best suit.

 

[Bilal7]

They all have their positives and negatives. Rizwan's game is different in that he can score quickly and safely but does he possess a power-game to score at two runs a ball? I doubt it.

Nothing wrong with that because you can't be a perfect batsman at 23, with only 12 odd games under your belt but I would hate to see people calling him a failure and whatnot if he fails to put away the likes of Finn and Wood chasing 300+, in the upcoming series against England.

Should be batting at #5 so he isn't put into such a situation and players better suited to slogging are played lower down.

 

[s28]

He should be in Test squad. Steps up every time and just looks very comfortable whatever is thrown at him

 

[junaid.ahmed]

Best thing about his game is how easily and regularly he rotates the strike, and that's something that was missing form our batting for quite some time.

Wouldn't mind if he gets promoted up the order after a while.

Its to early to say this but after Miandad he is the only batsman who can rotate the strike with so ease.

The big difference b/w him & umar akmal is that he understand the price of his wicket & he play till the end, my judgement is not based on this match but if you analyze last T20 tournament he always stand like the wall for Peshawar in almost every match.

 

[Syed1]

They all have their positives and negatives. Rizwan's game is different in that he can score quickly and safely but does he possess a power-game to score at two runs a ball? I doubt it.

Nothing wrong with that because you can't be a perfect batsman at 23, with only 12 odd games under your belt but I would hate to see people calling him a failure and whatnot if he fails to put away the likes of Finn and Wood chasing 300+, in the upcoming series against England.

Should be batting at #5 so he isn't put into such a situation and players better suited to slogging are played lower down.

Teams should play to their strengths. How often in a calendar year a score of 350+ is scored against us? I'm guessing at max once or twice.

Rizwan won't have to score "two runs a ball" in most of the matches he plays, besides old Pakistani strategy of batting slowly at the top and then relying on one guy like Razzaq or Afridi to score 150 in the last ten has failed time and again.

 

[Bilal7]

Teams should play to their strengths. How often in a calendar year a score of 350+ is scored against us? I'm guessing at max once or twice.

Rizwan won't have to score "two runs a ball" in most of the matches he plays, besides old Pakistani strategy of batting slowly at the top and then relying on one guy like Razzaq or Afridi to score 150 in the last ten has failed time and again.

He won't but he shouldn't be batting at #6 where there is more of a chance of such a need appearing. Batting him at #5 will make it easier on the batsmen lower down too since he can score quickly, despite not having a power game.

 

[waleed88]

Its to early to say this but after Miandad he is the only batsman who can rotate the strike with so ease.

The big difference b/w him & umar akmal is that he understand the price of his wicket & he play till the end, my judgement is not based on this match but if you analyze last T20 tournament he always stand like the wall for Peshawar in almost every match.

Sarfaraz says Hi.

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[Bullet Drive]

He has some traits of Fawad Alam in him. But yes a very good batsman. Against pace he is superb. Spin bit shaky early on but who isn't. Fantastic talent.

 

[junaid.ahmed]

Sarfaraz says Hi.

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Sarfaraz is not a complete batsman.

 

[waleed88]

Sarfaraz is not a complete batsman.

And rizwan is after 3 months of International cricket?

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[junaid.ahmed]

And rizwan is after 3 months of International cricket?

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No he isnt either, but against fast bowlers rizwan is better secondly he understand the price of his wicket. What I see he take the game to depth. Sarfaraz is more attacking but he has colors of Akmal in his batting, sometimes throws his wicket irresponsibly which do not suited for someone who play at 4,5.

 

[waleed88]

No he isnt either, but against fast bowlers rizwan is better secondly he understand the price of his wicket. What I see he take the game to depth. Sarfaraz is more attacking but he has colors of Akmal in his batting, sometimes throws his wicket irresponsibly which do not suited for someone who play at 4,5.

Lol acha. So all the knocks he played in Test cricket were Umar Akmalish knocks.

Has been our most frequent run scorer down the order. Plays with the tail responsibly. Gives the team a fighting chance.

You are contradicting your own statements now.

There is no comparison between rizwan and sarfaraz on any level.

First Rizwan should focus on making it to the side as a regular player. There is a long time before he is fit enough to fit in Sarfaraz's shoes.

The man is different class altogether.

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[waleed88]

Its to early to say this but after Miandad he is the only batsman who can rotate the strike with so ease.

The big difference b/w him & umar akmal is that he understand the price of his wicket & he play till the end, my judgement is not based on this match but if you analyze last T20 tournament he always stand like the wall for Peshawar in almost every match.

Dean Jones compared Sarfaraz to Miandad. So I'm guessing he is wrong too in that assessment.

Inzamam made a similar comparison but I guess Inzamam had an agenda on that.

Miandad himself classed Sarfaraz as a really good rotator of strike. This was during the PTV sports show with Dr. Nauman Niaz. But I guess it was Javed's Karachi bias speaking.

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[waleed88]

Not saying Rizwan is a bad player at all here btw.

I'm actually really pleased that we have two really amazing keepers in the same lineup. This is a God send blessing, because have finally rid ourselves of the Akmal disease plaguing our cricket. We can finally move on to merit as the criteria of our selection of players. Performance being the sole criteria.

Not favoritism and dressing room politics.

However to early to say Rizwan is anywhere near Sarfaraz.

However having said that Rizwan is a big upgrade on all the Akmal brothers.
His cricketing aspects and his awareness of the game is a million times than all Akmals combined.

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[Arsal_AK]

Rizwan should be batting at four. He is not a lower order batsman. Its not is game. Its like putting Kohli (not comparing the two) at six and asking him to do what Dhoni does. He will be good there too but he can do so much more above the order. Its nowhere near his true potential.

Haris at 3 and Rizwan at 4 is how we should proceed. Build the team around them. They are the ones who are likely to build the innings, look for that hundred and not wilt under pressure. Both are pretty good chasers as well.
Rizwan has won Peshawar three championships; scoring in finals while chasing. Coming in building an innings and then finishing off at the end. That cannot happen while he batting at six.

Sarfraz is not a no.4. He cannot play big and so far hasn't done anything to really impress in ODI's or even List A. People have a tendency to mix up formats.
The 49 vs SA is his best ODI knock yet imo and even there look how he played or was used. As an option to counterattack and give the impetus to the team.

That is his role in test cricket as well and the reason why he is doing such a brilliant job. In ODIs it shoud be the same; go out and give the momentum to Pakistan. His game is perfect for that with those sweeps, dabs and scoops. Should be batting at 5 or 6.

At four, Rizwan will always be a better bet.

 

[junaid.ahmed]

Lol acha. So all the knocks he played in Test cricket were Umar Akmalish knocks.

Has been our most frequent run scorer down the order. Plays with the tail responsibly. Gives the team a fighting chance.

You are contradicting your own statements now.

There is no comparison between rizwan and sarfaraz on any level.

First Rizwan should focus on making it to the side as a regular player. There is a long time before he is fit enough to fit in Sarfaraz's shoes.

The man is different class altogether.

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Rizwan hasnt played any test yet so lets not talk about test but IMO if rizwan get a chance to play in test he wouldnt be far away from sarfaraz.

Why there is no comparison b/w both??? One is little older but the second is more fresh both are performing well at international & domestic level secondly I think you forget that rizwan selected in the team on the basis of his batting skills.

Not only rizwan I think every player should focus on what you suggest but I dnt know what made you to say this bcz so far rizwan is doing well enough to remain as regular.

No clearly not there is no difference in class the difference is of style. Sarfaraz is more aggressive while rizwan is more compose.

 

[junaid.ahmed]

Dean Jones compared Sarfaraz to Miandad. So I'm guessing he is wrong too in that assessment.

Inzamam made a similar comparison but I guess Inzamam had an agenda on that.

Miandad himself classed Sarfaraz as a really good rotator of strike. This was during the PTV sports show with Dr. Nauman Niaz. But I guess it was Javed's Karachi bias speaking.

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If deno do this then he is wrong & mistakes do happen but if inzi do this then there is an agenda behind in his claim. Is this not hypocrisy???

 

[waleed88]

If deno do this then he is wrong & mistakes do happen but if inzi do this then there is an agenda behind in his claim. Is this not hypocrisy???

You clearly didnot get what I was trying to say.

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[junaid.ahmed]

You clearly didnot get what I was trying to say.

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Yeah get it now, didnt get the sarcasm at first read.

 

[Barragan]

Struggled against spin today.

The general trend among the current crop seems to be their weakness against spin.

The likes of Haris, Azhar, Akmal, Shehzad and now Rizwan, all look like they struggle a bit with spin.

Only Sarfraz, Shafiq and Maqsood are good against spin, whilst the others don't look good at all.

Haven't seen much of Babar against spin, so let's see how he goes.

 

[90MPH]

That was a pain to watch.

What's really concerning he has no idea about the googly.

He's not playing with soft hands against the spinners so struggling to rotate strike.

But still early days, hopefully he tries to rectify those flaws in due course.

 

[Mamoon]

Still a nervy starter against spin. He looks a different player against pace first up.

 

[zabalestmsm]

Needs to play with confidence against spin! Was all at sea!

 

[yasir]

Today was disappointing display against leg spin, he was not reading the googlie from hand, not once but atleast 4/5 times. How he can survive in domestic without playing spin?? - We were thinking of having him in test. He will be eaten alive by spinners.

Can he play pace? - Bar is not too high(if it at all exist) in Pakistan

 

[waleed88]

Disappointing. He still looks short of practice. The way he was playing Adil Rasheed puts a big question mark on his ability against spin. He isn't the hardest hitter of the ball. But clearly when you stop his fun flow he gets agitated and hesitant.

He went to pakistan and came back in the team just a day before the 2nd ODI. Seems his trip has distracted him mentally from the game.

 

[Bilal7]

Chalo bhai. Now it's time for Rizwan to be labelled a "hack" and discarded as nothing more than wasted potential. The most fickle fans in the world are Pakistan Cricket fans.

 

[abc_to_xyz]

Just one bad innings, and everyone's at him.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Hes a quality player in the making, he had a bad game today so did most of the rest of the batsmen. He needs to be utlized at nuber 4 or 5 and you will see the best of him.

 

[Barragan]

Can't play spin at all.

Hardly versatile if he can't play spin and one of the worst Asian batsmen I've seen against spin.

 

[aukhan]

He has been exposed badly against spinners. He needs to improve his game play against spin to survive in subcontinent.

 

[Syed1]

Just one bad innings, and everyone's at him.

4 bad innings on the trot and counting

 

[Barragan]

4 bad innings on the trot and counting

And all against spin.

He will be crucified in Ind.

 

[asyed]

I remember Imran Khan said in this interview, he use to spend hours after the game to analysis his mistakes and worked on those to rectify them.

Rizwan and others clearly have issues but they don't seems to work at all on their weakness. Neither it seems that coaching staff is doing anything about it. Because, simply there is no improvement at all.

 

[Syed1]

I remember Imran Khan said in this interview, he use to spend hours after the game to analysis his mistakes and worked on those to rectify them.

Rizwan and others clearly have issues but they don't seems to work at all on their weakness. Neither it seems that coaching staff is doing anything about it. Because, simply there is no improvement at all.

They probably spend the same time ironing the captain's/coach's clothes or polishing their shoes..

 

[Ironcat]

Well, this is what happens when you hype players up after BD, SL, and ZIM series. I don't think he was able to handle pace well today either.

Simply dial down the hype and let these players learn like all other batsmen do in the world - i.e. by playing a lot of cricket.

 

[abc_to_xyz]

4 bad innings on the trot and counting

Never said that he is not going to have more. Even single-shot Safraz seems better than him,

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Rizwan 100* runs in 160 balls & 208 minutes, 14 fours : KPK vs Central Punjab in Round 4 of QeA 2019