Mohammad Rizwan (cricketer)

Mohammad Rizwan; born 1 June 1992) is a Pakistani international cricketer who is the current vice-captain of the Pakistan cricket team in T20I cricket and captains Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans.  He is a wicket-keeper batsman.

Rizwan is the only player to score 2000 runs in a calendar year in T20s. He is a right-handed batter and wicket-keeper and has scored centuries in all three international formats: Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. He is the vice-captain of the Pakistan cricket team in Test cricket. He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2021. He was also the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021. He also led the Multan Sultans to victory in the Pakistan Super League 2021. He is the leading run scorer in T20 Internationals in a calendar year with 1326 runs in 26 innings at an average of 73.66. He played for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League from 2016 to 2017, for Karachi Kings from 2018 to 2020, and as of 2023 captains Multan Sultans. He captains Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in domestic cricket.

Early career
Rizwan was born on 1 June 1992 in Peshawar to Akhter Parvez into a Pashtun family of six siblings, with Rizwan being the second of three brothers. He began his cricket career with tape ball before joining clubs such as the Islamia College and later the Shama Club, eventually playing for Peshawar Under-19 in 2007.

Domestic career
Making his first-class debut with Peshawar during the 2008–09 season, Rizwan hit five 50s, including four unbeaten, in his first seven innings. His good form, both with the bat and behind the wickets, attracted the attention of Basit Ali, the coach of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, who recruited him to his team for the 2011–12 season.

Playing for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 2014–15, Rizwan scored 224 to help Sui Northern to a 301-run first-innings lead and their second title. He kept wicket for Pakistan A in the five limited-overs matches against Kenya in December 2014.

In April 2018, he was named the vice-captain of Punjab's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup. On 1 May 2018, he scored his highest total in List A cricket, with 140 off 123 balls against Federal Areas. In March 2019, he was named as the captain of Federal Areas squad for the 2019 Pakistan Cup.

In September 2019, Rizwan was named as the captain of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament. In October 2019, he was named the player of the tournament in the 2019–20 National T20 Cup, for scoring 215 runs and taking six wickets.

He was retained by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the 2020–21 domestic season, both as player and captain of the team.

In December 2021, he was signed by Sussex to play County Championship and T20 cricket in 2022.

Pakistan Super League
Rizwan started his PSL career with Lahore Qalandars in 2016. However, his two-year stint with the team was disappointing, as Lahore Qalandars failed to qualify for the playoffs in both seasons. Additionally, Rizwan's individual performance during this period was below expectations, as he only managed to score 233 runs in 16 matches.

He played for Karachi Kings in the next three editions of the PSL from 2018 to 2020. Despite becoming Pakistan's first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in international cricket, he struggled to establish himself as a regular team player for Kings, often only featuring as a lower-order batsman instead of his preferred position in the top order.

Rizwan's breakthrough in the PSL came in 2021 when he joined Multan Sultans as their captain. Under Rizwan's captaincy, Sultans achieved remarkable success in the PSL. In his first season as the captain, he led the team to victory, while finishing as the runner-ups in the next two tournaments.

Individually, Rizwan saw his peak with the Sultans, as he managed to score 1596 runs from 2021 to 2023, winning the Hanif Mohammad Cap for being the highest run scorer in PSL 8. He also became the only batsman to score 500+ runs in 3 PSL seasons. In February 2023, while playing against Karachi Kings in PSL 8, he hit his second T20 century and his first PSL century, an unbeaten 110 off 64 deliveries at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

International career
Rizwan made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Pakistan against Bangladesh in April 2015, scoring 67 runs off 58 balls. He made his Twenty20 International debut for Pakistan in the same series. He made his Test debut for Pakistan against New Zealand on 25 November 2016. He was out for a golden duck in his maiden Test innings.

In August 2018 he was one 33 players awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He captained Pakistan's team in the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Pakistan reached the semi-finals. In March 2019, during the second ODI against Australia, Rizwan scored his first century in an ODI match, making 115 runs.

In November 2019, Rizwan was recalled to the Pakistan team against Sri Lanka. He was also selected against Australia later that month, where in the first innings of the First Test it was debated as to whether he was given out on a no ball. In the second innings he made 95.

In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on 23 June 2020, Rizwan was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. He had an excellent Test series, both with the bat and gloves, managing to score 161 runs with two-half centuries, therefore, cementing his place as first choice wicket-keeper in Test matches, above the returning former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. He was named as Pakistan's player of the Test series.

In December 2020, Rizwan was named as the captain of Pakistan's Test side for the first match against New Zealand. He replaced Babar Azam, who was ruled out due to injury. In the same tour, he was also added to Pakistan's T20I squad against New Zealand. In the 3rd T20I of the series against New Zealand, Rizwan scored his career-best T20I score of 89 to give Pakistan a win and saved them from getting white-washed by New Zealand.

In February 2021, in Pakistan's series against South Africa, Rizwan scored his first century in Test cricket, with an unbeaten 115 as he was awarded the player of the series. In February 2021, in Pakistan's series against South Africa, Rizwan scored his first century in T20I cricket, with an unbeaten 104 including 6 boundaries and 7 sixes. He also became the first wicket-keeper batter for Pakistan to score a century in T20I cricket and became only the second wicketkeeper batter after Brendon McCullum to score centuries in all three formats of international cricket. He also became only the second Pakistani batter to score a century in T20I cricket after Ahmed Shehzad and also became the fifth designated wicketkeeper batter to notch a T20I century.

In April 2021, during the third T20I between Pakistan and South Africa he along with Babar Azam had a 197-run partnership for the opening wicket which is also the highest partnership recorded by a pair for Pakistan for any wicket in T20I cricket. It was also the highest ever partnership for any wicket by a pair in T20I cricket while chasing.

In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. In December 2021, in the third match against the West Indies, Rizwan became the first batter to score 2,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket in a calendar year. In September 2022, Rizwan and Babar scored a record T20 cricket partnership of 203 without being dismissed.

In October 2023, Rizwan scored an unbeaten century against Sri Lanka, leading Pakistan to successfully chase a mammoth total of 345 in the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

In December 2023 and January 2024, Rizwan participated in Pakistan's tour of Australia. For the first match, he was sidelined for Sarfaraz Ahmed. After a poor showing by Sarfaraz, he was bought back into the team. In the second match's first innings, he scored 42 off 51, and then a 35 off 62 in the second innings. In the third match's first innings, he scored 88 off 103, and then a 28 off 57 in the second innings. The innings also had a FC against Victoria XI. He made 50 off 70 before retiring hurt.

In May 2024, he participated in Pakistan's tour of Ireland. In the first match, he scored just 1 run before being run out. However, he redeemed himself by scoring 75 off 46, not out in the second match. In the third and final match, he scored 58 off 38.

In May 2024, he participated in Pakistan's tour of England. The first match was washed out. In the second match, he was caught out on just the 3rd ball of the innings. The third match was also washed out. In the fourth and final match, he was bowled after scoring 23 runs off 16 balls.

In May 2024, he was named in Pakistan’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. In Pakistan's first match of the tournament, against the United States, he scored only 9 runs off 8 balls before being seen off by Saurabh Netravalkar. In that same game, he took the catches of Steven Taylor and Monank Patel. In Pakistan's second match of the tournament, against India, he scored a crucial 31 runs off 44 balls, before being bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. In Pakistan's third match of the tournament against Canada, he scored a match winning knock of 53 off 53, not out. In Pakistan's fourth and last match of the tournament against Ireland, he scored 17 runs off 16 balls. Overall, in the tournament, he scored 110 runs, the 33rd most out of every participant.

Awards and recognition

 * PCB's Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year for 2021
 * PCB's T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2021
 * Named in ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year for 2021
 * Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2021
 * ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2021
 * Named in ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year for 2022