Recovered Rizwan Eyes regained more batting glory in Bangladesh
Mohammad Rizwan miraculously recovered from two days in hospital last week and made a headline-grabbing performance at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where he scored 67 points in the semifinals against Australia.
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Pakistani wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan said Monday he was feeling fine after being in intensive care with a chest infection and would start training for a series in Bangladesh. Rizwan miraculously recovered after two days in hospital last week and made a headline-grabbing performance at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where he scored 67 points in the semifinals against Australia.
He finished the tournament with 281 runs, the third highest of any batsmen, despite missing the final after Pakistan's heartbreaking five-wicket loss to eventual winners. His tournament successes brought his record to 1,033 in 2021, making him the first man to score over 1,000 runs in Twenty20 internationals in a calendar year.
“I'm happy that I shot the most runs in the calendar year. But I'm even more happy that I was able to secure this record for my country, ”Rizwan told reporters in Dhaka. Rizwan, who scored 1,743 runs in all Twenty20 in 2021, also a calendar year record, now has the chance to add a few more runs to his record, while Pakistan takes on Bangladesh in a three-game series from Friday in Dhaka.
He struggled at Twenty20 in the early years of his international career averaging just four runs in 2016 and 14.80 in 2019. But he showed promise in 2020 by hitting his first fifty against New Zealand in December before reaching his full potential this year.
The second and third Twenty20 international matches against Bangladesh will also take place in Dhaka on November 20 and 22. The games will be day-night, with fans returning to the gallery in Bangladesh for the first time since March 2020.