Mohammad Rizwan "The criticism seems to be dying down a bit, so I must be doing something right"

On stats Rizwan is twice the player to Fakhar let alone Sharjeel who I will not even bother bringing in this discussion as it's an insult to Rizwan to mention his name alongside a corrupt fat slogger.

Cricket isn’t played on stats alone

Easy to neglect this when the said players are not performing and having the impact they are known for.

Time will tell.
 
On stats Rizwan is twice the player to Fakhar let alone Sharjeel who I will not even bother bringing in this discussion as it's an insult to Rizwan to mention his name alongside a corrupt fat slogger.

Sharjeel is history thankfully. Not that Pakistan needs another opener right now. But if hypothetically one of the top 3 was out injured or rested, the spot would go to Shan Masood.
 
Cricket isn’t played on stats alone

Easy to neglect this when the said players are not performing and having the impact they are known for.

Time will tell.

It's not played on stats alone but it's also not played on the imagination in your head where Sharjeel is some David Warner reincarnated.

I see results and results favor Rizwan just jog along and comeback when Sharjeel AND Fakhar can combine average 53 like Rizwan does on his own.
 
Look no one is perfect but I do think Rizwan even though delivered a 8.5/10 performance could have improved in some aspects…

There were some slot, full balls outside of the off stump which would be sent into the stands by a well oiled T20 opener in the overs 13-17 which Rizwan did not cash in on.

He should improve this aspect of his game and he can turn his 70s off 50 balls into 90s off 50 instead.

Please remind us when was the last time such well oiled opener took the game to the 13th over? The mindless sloggers you keep mentioning hardly ever go past the 3rd over and one of which is completely lost as soon as a spinner comes on.
 
Please remind us when was the last time such well oiled opener took the game to the 13th over? The mindless sloggers you keep mentioning hardly ever go past the 3rd over and one of which is completely lost as soon as a spinner comes on.

But if they do get there, they will not miss out on freebies
 
But if they do get there, they will not miss out on freebies

Sharjeel has never gone past the 12th over in international T20s against decent opposition(top 5). Not to mention that Sharjeel can't field. Sharjeel will concede 10 runs or more due to his fielding alone as we saw in the PSL.
 
Sharjeel has never gone past the 12th over in international T20s against decent opposition(top 5). Not to mention that Sharjeel can't field. Sharjeel will concede 10 runs or more due to his fielding alone as we saw in the PSL.

Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.
 
Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.

Sharjeel has only scored one fifty in his career against the top 5 much less a century. Sharjeel doesn't possess the ability to play 40 balls against decent bowling lineups. You're imagining things.
 
Sharjeel has only scored one fifty in his career against the top 5 much less a century. Sharjeel doesn't possess the ability to play 40 balls against decent bowling lineups. You're imagining things.

Ok bro.
 
Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.

Hahaha…. Scoring a century in rellu katta domestic matches doesn‘t matter. It’s the runs scored under pressure in a high octane match that matter. There is no one in Pakistan at the moment who is better at that than rizwan. Almost in every crunch match, Rizwan has delivered. Sharjeel on the other hand has got just one century in PSL playoffs that is worth mentioning otherwise nothing to show. He fails miserably more often than not.

Thank God Pakistan hasn‘t got the Opening Pair of Fakhar-Sharjeel . We have seen how well Fakhar plays spin. It’s not only offspin. He is starting to have issues against legspinners as well now.

Irrespective of the position fakhar bats, whatever position he comes to bat, teams bring spinner and he fails to score.

Same thing is going to happen against Afghanistan as well. As soon as Fakhar will come to bat, nabi or mujeeb will come to bowl.

On the other hand, Rizwan hasn‘t got any particular weakness against any particular bowler. Yes his offside game is a bit limited but somehow he compensates for it and more often than not thrives.
 
Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.
Yes 100 vs Super Asia faislabad wolves is equal to high pressure knock vs India in Asia cup and world championship, brother you are next level hehe..
 
Rizwan is pointless.

The opposition doesn’t mind if he bats until the 15th over

He won’t do any serious damage to the opposition with his 110 strike rate!

This post did not age well
 
He got out, and Pakistan chased 32 from 12

They would not have if he was there

And this proves you hate rizwan...

Whats funny is on the commentary thread you wanted rizwan to be there and score runs.

Like i said, you are like those peopl, when stuck in situation you will cry for help, once out of the situation you than critsize the same people whose help you wanted when you were stuck.

Saw your rizwan post last night in commentary thread and also saw them in the world t20, but like a snake you went on to critisize him after the game was over
 
And this proves you hate rizwan...

Whats funny is on the commentary thread you wanted rizwan to be there and score runs.

Like i said, you are like those peopl, when stuck in situation you will cry for help, once out of the situation you than critsize the same people whose help you wanted when you were stuck.

Saw your rizwan post last night in commentary thread and also saw them in the world t20, but like a snake you went on to critisize him after the game was over
It proves I understand or watch cricket differently. I’m allowed that difference, I have been a die hard Pakistan fan since 2003.

Swap Kohli with Rizwan in this same situation. He wasn’t going to get that 32 from 12 even with his 60* off 44 balls. He was too bogged down and limited in his stroke play against the specialist death bowler Harris Rauf who had his leg side packed against him. Rizwan is pretty much the same, he isn’t quite the finisher. Pakistan had the right guys at the crease who are capable of getting the 30s in 12 balls and Rizwan isn’t one of them.

So my point is proven. You don’t mind having Riz out there for that long eating up deliveries which would be better utilised but players who practice hitting sixes
 
Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.

What has Sharjeel done in last 2 years....

Bringing stats from 5 years back doesn't mean anything...recent form suggests that Sharjeel is no where near making the squad.

Let's not even discuss his fitness issues....I wonder how he would have fared here in Asia Cup where even the fittest guys like Kohli, Rizwan are having trouble with the heat.
 
What has Sharjeel done in last 2 years....

Bringing stats from 5 years back doesn't mean anything...recent form suggests that Sharjeel is no where near making the squad.

Let's not even discuss his fitness issues....I wonder how he would have fared here in Asia Cup where even the fittest guys like Kohli, Rizwan are having trouble with the heat.

No matter what Sharjeel does, he won’t come back until Ramiz is there. So what’s the point? He top scored, outscored Rizwan in the last national T20 cup. Not selected by Pakistan for the 2021 World Cup squad and on the same day scored another hundred

He has always been one of PSL’s best Pakistani openers, not the ideal season for him last year I admit but Babar was equally poor alongside him.
 
C'mon...this is just pure hatred for a particular player.

So if I defend my claim it’s pure hatred?

It’s PURE TRUTH. Rizwan was ‘super tired’ apparently according to his own fans. How do you expect him and Khushdil to get 32 off 12 balls when it was the coward/selfish Khusdil taking no responsibility and handing back the strike to Rizwan, who couldn’t hit the slot balls out of the park?
 
It proves I understand or watch cricket differently. I’m allowed that difference, I have been a die hard Pakistan fan since 2003.

Swap Kohli with Rizwan in this same situation. He wasn’t going to get that 32 from 12 even with his 60* off 44 balls. He was too bogged down and limited in his stroke play against the specialist death bowler Harris Rauf who had his leg side packed against him. Rizwan is pretty much the same, he isn’t quite the finisher. Pakistan had the right guys at the crease who are capable of getting the 30s in 12 balls and Rizwan isn’t one of them.

So my point is proven. You don’t mind having Riz out there for that long eating up deliveries which would be better utilised but players who practice hitting sixes

like i said, when stuck in a situation you willl cry, when same guy saves you, you bash him later when out of the situation.

Anyways, Rizwan isnt going anywhere, and Inshallah Sharjeel is never gonna come back, you can whine about this for the next 10 years
 
Sharjeel looks utterly clueless these days and is also hopelessly out of shape. His last four innings in the NT20 read as

12, 7, 8, 24.

The only person in Pakistan who has a case to play in the top 3 in white-ball cricket is Shan Masood.

The wicket keeper batter prospects Haseebullah, Rohail, & Haris are all extremely raw and Azam Khan has almost stopped taking care of his fitness and is more interested in playing league cricket (currently struggling to make an impact in CPL). As I type, I'm watching Rohail bat at number 3 and he's scored 2(4) balls against a finished bowler (JK) & an emerging bowler who isn't international class (Khurram).

The one emerging player who can challenge Rizwan's opening slot is probably Hassan Nawaz but he plays too many risky strokes and from what I have seen of him, does not possess a defensive game against quality bowlers.

Tayyab Tahir, Zeeshan, Ali Imran, Abdullah, etc. are just one-dimensional players and do not keep hence it's really hard for them to replace Rizwan.

update: Rohail has moved to 3(5) before I finished typing so updating that
 
like i said, when stuck in a situation you willl cry, when same guy saves you, you bash him later when out of the situation.

Anyways, Rizwan isnt going anywhere, and Inshallah Sharjeel is never gonna come back, you can whine about this for the next 10 years

I commended his innings yesterday but it seems his fans are adamant on trying to prove to me that he is the Perfect player with no weaknesses at all.

Just bring it! I always have plenty of reality checks to hand out
 
Sharjeel looks utterly clueless these days and is also hopelessly out of shape. His last four innings in the NT20 read as

12, 7, 8, 24.

The only person in Pakistan who has a case to play in the top 3 in white-ball cricket is Shan Masood.

I believe Shan Masood is batting down the order on purpose because he knows he isn't likely to be selected in place of Rizwan or Babar so he's targeting a middle order position. Rizwan did something similar when he started opening the innings for his domestic team. He knew that he wasn't going to be selected as a middle order batsman so he targeted the opening position by proving himself in the domestics first.

In the end this type of thinking by players is good for Pakistan overall. If Pakistan has a clear weak spot(middle-order) it should encourage players to get better and try to fill the weak spot.

Players that are flexible with their batting or bowling positions should be encouraged.
 
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Can do nothing wrong Riz!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mohammad Rizwan in T20Is since the start of last year:<br><br>Innings 30<br>Runs 1541<br>Average 73.38<br>Strike-rate 133.76<br>Fifties 14<br>Hundreds 1<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1566838774788653059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most runs in T20Is since the start of January 2021:<br><br>Mohammad Rizwan 1541 (30 innings)<br>Babar Azam 1038 (30 innings)<br>Nicholas Pooran 1037 (38 innings)<br>Paul Stirling 887 (36 innings)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1566839957473337347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Can do nothing wrong Riz!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mohammad Rizwan in T20Is since the start of last year:<br><br>Innings 30<br>Runs 1541<br>Average 73.38<br>Strike-rate 133.76<br>Fifties 14<br>Hundreds 1<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1566838774788653059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most runs in T20Is since the start of January 2021:<br><br>Mohammad Rizwan 1541 (30 innings)<br>Babar Azam 1038 (30 innings)<br>Nicholas Pooran 1037 (38 innings)<br>Paul Stirling 887 (36 innings)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1566839957473337347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Actual avg is 50+, strike rate 130+, still not good enough for some people.. any team would like to have somebody like him..
 
[MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

Even after the win on Sunday, I'm still not convinced with the Babar and Rizwan opening combo. Yes Rizwan did well to play a good chunk of the innings but without Nawaz his innings wasn't all that. To prove this, one must consider his lack of impact prior to Nawaz's arrival to the crease and also after his dismissal.

I like Rizwan and I believe he's done more than enough to cement his place as Pakistan's wicket-keeper in all formats however him and Pakistan need to figure out the best approach going forward. Our current strategy isn't sustainable and this proved to be the case against Australia in the WT20 last year.
The way the duo bat it's like they want to bat for 20 overs without losing a wicket. At times it seems like they're batting for their stats. Lets not forget Pakistan were batting at run a ball after 4 overs chasing 180+. Without Nawaz's blinder we would have fallen well short.

Babar and Rizwan are major assets for Pakistan in T20Is but they eat up far too many deliveries in the powerplay for me to be comfortable with them opening together.
 
[MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

Even after the win on Sunday, I'm still not convinced with the Babar and Rizwan opening combo. Yes Rizwan did well to play a good chunk of the innings but without Nawaz his innings wasn't all that. To prove this, one must consider his lack of impact prior to Nawaz's arrival to the crease and also after his dismissal.

I like Rizwan and I believe he's done more than enough to cement his place as Pakistan's wicket-keeper in all formats however him and Pakistan need to figure out the best approach going forward. Our current strategy isn't sustainable and this proved to be the case against Australia in the WT20 last year.
The way the duo bat it's like they want to bat for 20 overs without losing a wicket. At times it seems like they're batting for their stats. Lets not forget Pakistan were batting at run a ball after 4 overs chasing 180+. Without Nawaz's blinder we would have fallen well short.

Babar and Rizwan are major assets for Pakistan in T20Is but they eat up far too many deliveries in the powerplay for me to be comfortable with them opening together.

According to Rizwan’s die hard supporters, it is not his job to finish off games or provide the much needed impact at the crucial stages. According to Rizwan, that’s exactly how he plans out his innings. As a spokesperson for the team management, Rizwan declared that the management knows that our lower order is capable of scoring 40-50 runs in the last 4 overs. Hence Rizwan will just continue to go his merry way and reach 120 in 16 overs (120 in 96 balls) so that the lower order can do the tough work.

Never have I seen a more incompetent batsman getting so much coverage and adulation because of serial failures in every other position. The guy is incapable of getting fully set at the crease and then delivering 12-15 run overs for his team. He looks for 2s in the 18th and 19th over against teams like Hong Kong.

The guy is not a T20 opener no matter how many runs he accumulated at this position!
 
Rana knows nothing about cricket but I have to concede that he was right about Rizwan, although this might be a fluke.

Rizwan was disaster in the middle-order, and to save his career Misbah gave him a lifeline as an opener because he didn’t want to open the door for a Sarfraz return.

Rizwan has scored heavily, there is no about that. However, Rizwan has not had a big impact in terms of winning Pakistan matches against big teams.

In fact, his dot ball percentage in the PP overs and his dependency on the leg side has often proved to be detrimental against big sides. Sure he was won a couple of matches against India in Dubai, but it is the easiest venue to chase.

Pakistan would have lost both these games had they batted first, just like they lost the first Asia Cup match where Rizwan made sure that Pakistan settle for a below par total by playing a nothing innings.

Both Babar and Rizwan are in the same boat. They are average T20 players but they have been given a free ride because there are no alternatives and the management does not hold them accountable.

I think we need to accept that this pair is not ideal but they are the best we have got considering the lack of talent in the country.

Fakhar is a hack but the most useful hack that we have. He is the only one in the team capable of scoring a 45 ball ton on his day, but I feel he has gone into his shell and is trying to mimic Babar and Rizwan by converting himself into an accumulator so that he can match their output.

Unfortunately, he cannot make this work and also, considering the fact that the duo waste so many PP overs with their selfish batting, Fakhar does not even have the time to bat like them.

When Babar and Rizwan are 15 (15), they are under no pressure to slog because they know that the 15 (15) will eventually turn into 50 (35) because they have time on their side, but because of these two, everyone else in the team is forced to slog like a mad man and frankly none of them are talented enough to make it worse consistently.

This duo has made life very difficult for the likes of Fakhar, Asif, Khushdil, Nawaz etc. Nawaz played a blinder the other day but he was forced to slog from ball one because Rizwan was not going to take initiative and luckily for Nawaz, it paid off for him.

On another day, he holes out for 10 (4) and then he gets bashed while Rizwan is praised for “holding the fort”.

People justify Rizwan and Babar because it is their role to play anchor but you can only have one anchor and playing anchor in T20s is much easier than playing the aggressor because you have a bigger margin for error and you can justify a 50 (35) or a 70 (50) but the aggressor has to regularly score 50 (25) to justify his selection.

Rizwan has also earned a lot of plaudits for his personality and behavior but is becoming very annoying now. A PR machine.

Like Shadab, he has become a camera merchant who has also has to do something on the field with the hope that the camera will catch him.

He tries to be over-friendly with the opposition, when he gets inured he is always overreacting to show that he is in a lot of pain and fighting for his team in agony. Even that praying in the stadium thing has become part of his gimmick.

During the previous World T20, his PR machine cooked up a story on how he was facing a life and death situation before the semifinal and had to sneak out of the ICU to make himself available.

He had to see a doctor after the India match the other day for a minor precautionary check and I won’t be surprised if his PR team milks it again.
 
Rana knows nothing about cricket but I have to concede that he was right about Rizwan, although this might be a fluke.

Rizwan was disaster in the middle-order, and to save his career Misbah gave him a lifeline as an opener because he didn’t want to open the door for a Sarfraz return.

Rizwan has scored heavily, there is no about that. However, Rizwan has not had a big impact in terms of winning Pakistan matches against big teams.

In fact, his dot ball percentage in the PP overs and his dependency on the leg side has often proved to be detrimental against big sides. Sure he was won a couple of matches against India in Dubai, but it is the easiest venue to chase.

Pakistan would have lost both these games had they batted first, just like they lost the first Asia Cup match where Rizwan made sure that Pakistan settle for a below par total by playing a nothing innings.

Both Babar and Rizwan are in the same boat. They are average T20 players but they have been given a free ride because there are no alternatives and the management does not hold them accountable.

I think we need to accept that this pair is not ideal but they are the best we have got considering the lack of talent in the country.

Fakhar is a hack but the most useful hack that we have. He is the only one in the team capable of scoring a 45 ball ton on his day, but I feel he has gone into his shell and is trying to mimic Babar and Rizwan by converting himself into an accumulator so that he can match their output.

Unfortunately, he cannot make this work and also, considering the fact that the duo waste so many PP overs with their selfish batting, Fakhar does not even have the time to bat like them.

When Babar and Rizwan are 15 (15), they are under no pressure to slog because they know that the 15 (15) will eventually turn into 50 (35) because they have time on their side, but because of these two, everyone else in the team is forced to slog like a mad man and frankly none of them are talented enough to make it worse consistently.

This duo has made life very difficult for the likes of Fakhar, Asif, Khushdil, Nawaz etc. Nawaz played a blinder the other day but he was forced to slog from ball one because Rizwan was not going to take initiative and luckily for Nawaz, it paid off for him.

On another day, he holes out for 10 (4) and then he gets bashed while Rizwan is praised for “holding the fort”.

People justify Rizwan and Babar because it is their role to play anchor but you can only have one anchor and playing anchor in T20s is much easier than playing the aggressor because you have a bigger margin for error and you can justify a 50 (35) or a 70 (50) but the aggressor has to regularly score 50 (25) to justify his selection.

Rizwan has also earned a lot of plaudits for his personality and behavior but is becoming very annoying now. A PR machine.

Like Shadab, he has become a camera merchant who has also has to do something on the field with the hope that the camera will catch him.

He tries to be over-friendly with the opposition, when he gets inured he is always overreacting to show that he is in a lot of pain and fighting for his team in agony. Even that praying in the stadium thing has become part of his gimmick.

During the previous World T20, his PR machine cooked up a story on how he was facing a life and death situation before the semifinal and had to sneak out of the ICU to make himself available.

He had to see a doctor after the India match the other day for a minor precautionary check and I won’t be surprised if his PR team milks it again.

I disagree.

Look at the indian team. Indias main issue is the top order fails and than the middle and lower order isnt able to do anything.

Pakistan has figured a new technique in t20 cricket which is to play the game with a good start. They first create a good base and than attack as the innings progress. The slow players who play a big role in stabilizing the innings are used upfront so that they can give good start and than smash when settled.

When that happens, the likes of khushdil, nawaz, shadab and asif are there to hit from ball one.

You replace rizwan and babar with someone elsem this team will get destroyed.

Rizwan has performances, he has defeated new zealand, england, australia and south africa.

You are confusing the opener with a finisher. Rizwans job isnt to finish games, he is there to score you runs at the start and the rest is the other guys job.

Pakistan finally has a wicket keeper that can hold the bat, you seriously want him to be dropped?

His way of cricket has resulted in wins for us. He is no.1 ranked t20 batsmen now.

Surya kumar yadav cant even break into no.1 position because of these two and plus he couldnt perform against pakistan.

Going by the reasoning you are using, shahid afridi would be a big natch winner when infact shahid afridi bottled more games...

You have to look at the positions these guys play at.

Asif ali and iftikhar come in lower order and will finish games more, does that mean they better players than the upper order batters?
 
Ranked number 1 T20 batsman in the world! Take a bow.

Rizwan should've been ranked number 1 months ago looking at his form, but better late than never I guess.

Average of 70 and SR of 133 as an opener in 33 innings. That's unthinkable for any batsman in the world.
 
Rana knows nothing about cricket but I have to concede that he was right about Rizwan, although this might be a fluke.

I have quite a few ‘flukes’, let’s hear what you are accurate about?

What have you ever been right about here?
 
Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.

Rana knows nothing about cricket but I have to concede that he was right about Rizwan, although this might be a fluke.

Rizwan was disaster in the middle-order, and to save his career Misbah gave him a lifeline as an opener because he didn’t want to open the door for a Sarfraz return.

Rizwan has scored heavily, there is no about that. However, Rizwan has not had a big impact in terms of winning Pakistan matches against big teams.

In fact, his dot ball percentage in the PP overs and his dependency on the leg side has often proved to be detrimental against big sides. Sure he was won a couple of matches against India in Dubai, but it is the easiest venue to chase.

Pakistan would have lost both these games had they batted first, just like they lost the first Asia Cup match where Rizwan made sure that Pakistan settle for a below par total by playing a nothing innings.

Both Babar and Rizwan are in the same boat. They are average T20 players but they have been given a free ride because there are no alternatives and the management does not hold them accountable.

I think we need to accept that this pair is not ideal but they are the best we have got considering the lack of talent in the country.

Fakhar is a hack but the most useful hack that we have. He is the only one in the team capable of scoring a 45 ball ton on his day, but I feel he has gone into his shell and is trying to mimic Babar and Rizwan by converting himself into an accumulator so that he can match their output.

Unfortunately, he cannot make this work and also, considering the fact that the duo waste so many PP overs with their selfish batting, Fakhar does not even have the time to bat like them.

When Babar and Rizwan are 15 (15), they are under no pressure to slog because they know that the 15 (15) will eventually turn into 50 (35) because they have time on their side, but because of these two, everyone else in the team is forced to slog like a mad man and frankly none of them are talented enough to make it worse consistently.

This duo has made life very difficult for the likes of Fakhar, Asif, Khushdil, Nawaz etc. Nawaz played a blinder the other day but he was forced to slog from ball one because Rizwan was not going to take initiative and luckily for Nawaz, it paid off for him.

On another day, he holes out for 10 (4) and then he gets bashed while Rizwan is praised for “holding the fort”.

People justify Rizwan and Babar because it is their role to play anchor but you can only have one anchor and playing anchor in T20s is much easier than playing the aggressor because you have a bigger margin for error and you can justify a 50 (35) or a 70 (50) but the aggressor has to regularly score 50 (25) to justify his selection.

Rizwan has also earned a lot of plaudits for his personality and behavior but is becoming very annoying now. A PR machine.

Like Shadab, he has become a camera merchant who has also has to do something on the field with the hope that the camera will catch him.

He tries to be over-friendly with the opposition, when he gets inured he is always overreacting to show that he is in a lot of pain and fighting for his team in agony. Even that praying in the stadium thing has become part of his gimmick.

During the previous World T20, his PR machine cooked up a story on how he was facing a life and death situation before the semifinal and had to sneak out of the ICU to make himself available.

He had to see a doctor after the India match the other day for a minor precautionary check and I won’t be surprised if his PR team milks it again.

Why is this poster not banned from here he is accusing a national star cricketer of making up injury stories without any proof and he is being allowed to get away with it what are the mods doing?
 
Why is this poster not banned from here he is accusing a national star cricketer of making up injury stories without any proof and he is being allowed to get away with it what are the mods doing?

Why are you trying to gag his freedom of speech just to protect your national star?

He is a doctor so he says, he would probably be able to back his claim if asked to prove it. Rizwan is an attention seeker. Why was he never this vocal and dramatic before the cameras before his stocks had risen as a T20 batsman? His personality and behaviour is for the cameras only, it’s not something he always was. Fame has changed him
 
Sharjeel is a big daddy hundred scorer. He doesn’t deal in 40 ball 60s like Rizwan. Sharjeel goes big and gets the three figures

Sharjeel Khan has 4 T20 hundreds. Rizwan has one.

Why are you trying to gag his freedom of speech just to protect your national star?

He is a doctor so he says, he would probably be able to back his claim if asked to prove it. Rizwan is an attention seeker. Why was he never this vocal and dramatic before the cameras before his stocks had risen as a T20 batsman? His personality and behaviour is for the cameras only, it’s not something he always was. Fame has changed him
Freedom of speech does not mean you throw injury accusations with out proof either prove it or stay shut.

There are forum rules that have to be followed otherwise all kind of posting in the name of freedom of speech.
 
Freedom of speech does not mean you throw injury accusations with out proof either prove it or stay shut.

There are forum rules that have to be followed otherwise all kind of posting in the name of freedom of speech.

He is totally allowed to question to authenticity of the story. It makes no sense to anyone. You don’t jump out of the ICU to play a semi final the next day. He would probably know that due to his line of profession

Rizwan’s dramey baaziya on the field and off the field do not do him any favours in this sense either
 
Rizwan haters are built differently. Only someone with 0 cricket knowledge will say we shouldn't open with Rizwan and Babar. These guys want proven failures as openers like Fakhar and Sharjeel to open for Pakistan because they are supposedly more aggressive than Rizwan and Babar.

Sharjeel is never going to play international cricket ever again because of his non-serious attitude towards his fitness and batting. Even a pre-ban Sharjeel wasn't a good T20 opener. He always choked in important matches. Sharjeel is a domestic-level batsman.

Fakhar neither bats very quickly nor does he score runs consistently. He was given a lot of chances to prove himself and he failed. Fakhar is lucky to still be in the team after a consistent string of failures.

Rizwan alone contributes more to the team than both Fakhar and Sharjeel combined.

Here's the combined record of Fakhar and Sharjeel against India in T20s:

Innings - 4, Runs - 49, Average - 12.25, SR - 92.4

Rizwan's record against India:

Innings - 3, Runs - 193, Average - 96.5, SR - 130.4
 
Rana knows nothing about cricket but I have to concede that he was right about Rizwan, although this might be a fluke.

Rizwan was disaster in the middle-order, and to save his career Misbah gave him a lifeline as an opener because he didn’t want to open the door for a Sarfraz return.

Rizwan has scored heavily, there is no about that. However, Rizwan has not had a big impact in terms of winning Pakistan matches against big teams.

In fact, his dot ball percentage in the PP overs and his dependency on the leg side has often proved to be detrimental against big sides. Sure he was won a couple of matches against India in Dubai, but it is the easiest venue to chase.

Pakistan would have lost both these games had they batted first, just like they lost the first Asia Cup match where Rizwan made sure that Pakistan settle for a below par total by playing a nothing innings.

Both Babar and Rizwan are in the same boat. They are average T20 players but they have been given a free ride because there are no alternatives and the management does not hold them accountable.

I think we need to accept that this pair is not ideal but they are the best we have got considering the lack of talent in the country.

Fakhar is a hack but the most useful hack that we have. He is the only one in the team capable of scoring a 45 ball ton on his day, but I feel he has gone into his shell and is trying to mimic Babar and Rizwan by converting himself into an accumulator so that he can match their output.

Unfortunately, he cannot make this work and also, considering the fact that the duo waste so many PP overs with their selfish batting, Fakhar does not even have the time to bat like them.

When Babar and Rizwan are 15 (15), they are under no pressure to slog because they know that the 15 (15) will eventually turn into 50 (35) because they have time on their side, but because of these two, everyone else in the team is forced to slog like a mad man and frankly none of them are talented enough to make it worse consistently.

This duo has made life very difficult for the likes of Fakhar, Asif, Khushdil, Nawaz etc. Nawaz played a blinder the other day but he was forced to slog from ball one because Rizwan was not going to take initiative and luckily for Nawaz, it paid off for him.

On another day, he holes out for 10 (4) and then he gets bashed while Rizwan is praised for “holding the fort”.

People justify Rizwan and Babar because it is their role to play anchor but you can only have one anchor and playing anchor in T20s is much easier than playing the aggressor because you have a bigger margin for error and you can justify a 50 (35) or a 70 (50) but the aggressor has to regularly score 50 (25) to justify his selection.

Rizwan has also earned a lot of plaudits for his personality and behavior but is becoming very annoying now. A PR machine.

Like Shadab, he has become a camera merchant who has also has to do something on the field with the hope that the camera will catch him.

He tries to be over-friendly with the opposition, when he gets inured he is always overreacting to show that he is in a lot of pain and fighting for his team in agony. Even that praying in the stadium thing has become part of his gimmick.

During the previous World T20, his PR machine cooked up a story on how he was facing a life and death situation before the semifinal and had to sneak out of the ICU to make himself available.

He had to see a doctor after the India match the other day for a minor precautionary check and I won’t be surprised if his PR team milks it again.

POTW nomination for me. The part in bold is what stands out for me in this post because after the game nearly everyone on here was so high in the clouds doing bhangra, and in doing so that they forgot about Rizwan's sedate innings prior to Nawaz's arrival.

Lets also not forget he got out at a crucial time which could have been fatal as India would have won the game if it wasn't for Arshdeep's dropped catch.

I'm no Rizwan "hater". He's here to stay and is more than good enough to play for Pakistan in all 3 formats however he's getting far too much credit than what is warranted for an innings that deserves a rating of 6.5 out of 10.

As I've said before, [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION] was right all the way long. At first I thought it was overboard but he's been well and truly been vindicated.
 
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It easy to criticise Pakistan XI if need be. However, there is limited alternatives available so be happy with what you have. No point picking up on flaws if there is no solutions available.
 
It's crazy how the criticism for Rizwan keeps on coming but great, because it doesn't actually seem to do any harm. Rizwan has surpassed what anyone would have expected him when he first replaced Sarfaraz and nobody knows if he's done yet.

You can criticise his powerplay game but ultimately we see what happens when neither he nor Babar bat deep. You're kidding yourself if any replacement in domestics could be so groundbreaking that it could compensate for Rizwan's consistency or knock his strike rate out of the water.

The facts don't lie either. The amount of charts he has topped in the last few years speaks for themselves. Thank you Rizwan for all you have done for Pakistan cricket at a time where we are so dependent on a few individuals to keep us from ignominy.
 
It's crazy how the criticism for Rizwan keeps on coming but great, because it doesn't actually seem to do any harm. Rizwan has surpassed what anyone would have expected him when he first replaced Sarfaraz and nobody knows if he's done yet.

You can criticise his powerplay game but ultimately we see what happens when neither he nor Babar bat deep. You're kidding yourself if any replacement in domestics could be so groundbreaking that it could compensate for Rizwan's consistency or knock his strike rate out of the water.

The facts don't lie either. The amount of charts he has topped in the last few years speaks for themselves. Thank you Rizwan for all you have done for Pakistan cricket at a time where we are so dependent on a few individuals to keep us from ignominy.

Without his fans realising it, he is doing a lot of harm to Pakistan
 
This match along with many others shows the importance of Rizwan and Babar and their batting style.
 
This match along with many others shows the importance of Rizwan and Babar and their batting style.

What importance?

They cannot close off games against lower ranked sides when you just need 6.5 runs per over from the get go?

Asif Ali has had to bat out of his skin every time to get Pakistan close to the total because these two chumps are too busy making things hard for us
 
What importance?

They cannot close off games against lower ranked sides when you just need 6.5 runs per over from the get go?

Asif Ali has had to bat out of his skin every time to get Pakistan close to the total because these two chumps are too busy making things hard for us

What is Asif Ali to eat halva.
 
Just like the harm sharjeel is doing in national cup.

PCB/ Ramiz destroyed Sharjeel’s confidence

But there are still better alternatives out there to open the innings for us instead of these two gutless openers we currently have
 
Leg-side merchant. He has the off-side game of a tail-ender.

He is getting worked out now.
 
PCB/ Ramiz destroyed Sharjeel’s confidence

But there are still better alternatives out there to open the innings for us instead of these two gutless openers we currently have

Ramiz destroyed Sharejeels confidence!

You are the most delusional poster on here.

So it wasn’t the fact that Sharjeel is a cheat and got banned because he wanted money

Sharjeel also made no effort during his ban to get fit.

Instead he got fatter and more arrogant. Liability in the field, made no impact in any games he played.

But it was ramiz fault
 
score 16 runs on 22 balls in batting power play. In any other team he would be stripped of opener position long time ago.
 
One of Babar or him has to bat at 3 and allow Fakhar or someone else who is explosive with good technique to open.
 
Rizwan is Pakistan's best T20 batsmen atm, he has the ability to win game.
Can Rizwan take Pakistan home?
 
score 16 runs on 22 balls in batting power play. In any other team he would be stripped of opener position long time ago.

Not just that... The number of bad balls that missed? Half a decent batsman would be dispatching them through the offside. He entirely gave up the advantage we had in the big first over. Now, scoring 70 from 60 himself...and then having Asif/Khushdil score 30 from 10 or something...

Job done for Rizwan
 
Rizwan did not play a single lofted shot during the PP today. Horribly selfish innings
 
A run a ball innings chasing 170 with wickets in hand. He needs to take more initiative in the middle overs and go for the hits. If you're going to be careful in the PP then you have to make up for it and hit. Can't just wait for the last 4 overs.
 
Playing for his milestone. Batting at run a ball, no real attempt to hit any attacking shots for most of his innings. Pathetic innings.
 
Horrible innings today.

Started slowly
Struggled throughout

What was his plan? To score a 50 only?
 
I rate Rizwan ahead of Babar in T20Is but this was a poor innings.

The entire plan was flawed. It looked like they were chasing 140 not 170.
 
Horrible innings today.

Started slowly
Struggled throughout

What was his plan? To score a 50 only?

Enough for his fans Saj

They will use this 50 in his overall stats to tell us why he is a better opener than Sharjeel
 
Rizwan is 100% responsible for this loss. He left too much to do for everyone else especially for this wicket. Selfish knock.
 
Horrible innings today.

Started slowly
Struggled throughout

What was his plan? To score a 50 only?

He’s not good enough to accelerate if he gets support from the other end he can hit some boundaries as the pressure comes off on his own he’s only an anchor type batsman he was exposed today as Iftikhar was batting at a similar rate.
 
I really like Rizwan but have to agree, he usually does play slow, and today he was way too slow. We got such a good start with those wides and could not capitalize.
 
Playing for his milestone. Batting at run a ball, no real attempt to hit any attacking shots for most of his innings. Pathetic innings.

Absolutely, should get his baws booted for that despicable inns.
 
Would barely get 125 batting like that!. It was done after 7 overs
Some Pak fans overrate him a lot; but the reality is his game is not suited for T20. His main focus is to preserve his wicket as an opener. That strategy is not acceptable for T20s.
 
His worst innings probably. Consumed nearly 50 balls and nothing to show for it.

Pathetic.
 
I don't think he was playing for his milestone, I just think he managed the chase poorly. What's hurting him is that Babar is not scoring at all so Babar gets out and he takes an anchor role because we don't have any other reliable batsman in the team besides those two. Rest are all hit and miss as we saw.
 
Badly missing Mickey Arthur. No way would he have tolerated these out dated tactics
 
Some Pak fans overrate him a lot; but the reality is his game is not suited for T20. His main focus is to preserve his wicket as an opener. That strategy is not acceptable for T20s.

That goes with the team selection we have as well. Look at the amount of hit and miss players we have. Besides him and Babar we don't have anyone you can call a proper batsman. But that doesn't mean he should play run a ball in T20.
 
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Pakistan got a golden chance by the young SL pacer. 10 runs from 1 ball. They could have made it a very big one by attacking. Instead the over only produced 12 runs. Pathetic batting in powerplay.
 
Very very strange knock.

Only 1 boundary by rizwan in the last 19 balls he faced. No boundary by him between 10th and 15th over.

Very very strange.
 
Rizwan and Ifti paved the way for everyone to fail by their slow and pathetic batting. Zero intent and they kept blocking and blocking!
 
Showed no urgency when it was needed - having faced so many bowls should have took charge
 
Pathetic innings by rizwan and him along with iftikhar are the main reason why we lost.
 
Rizwan is 100% responsible for this loss. He left too much to do for everyone else especially for this wicket. Selfish knock.

More than Rizwan I would blame Babar and think tank. Right throughout the tournament this strategy of conserving wickets and then expecting hacks like khushdil Asif etc to make a big finish. Absolutely poor planning from the clueless captain
 
Great comments by Rizwan at end of game, owning up to mistakes.

Mohammad Rizwan: (Toss) I think if any team thinks about toss, then they are not a champion team. Sri Lanka were that today, they didn't think of toss. And then they hurt us for our mistakes. They deserved to be champions. (SL 67/5 after ten overs, after that what happened?) We made mistakes. We are human. We also played well through the tournament, but we lost the momentum in the first innings. In T20 cricket, whichever team has better momentum at the change of innings has the advantage."
 
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