Muhammad Rizwan Sets The New World Record For Most T20 Runs In a Year
The 29-year-old batsman achieved a new world record after the 2nd T20i. He has now scored 752 runs in 14 T20i matches this year, making him the highest run-scorer of T20i in a calendar year. And the surprising part is, it's only August yet! This record was previously held by an Irish batsman Paul Stirling who had scored 748 runs in 2019.
In October 2019, after his sub-optimal batting performance and a 3-0 loss to Sri Lanka's inexperienced team in Lahore, the wicket-keeping batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed was dropped from the Pakistan cricket team and laid off from his duties as captain from all three formats. This was a great blow to his cricketing career. However, it came with great news to Muhammad Rizwan.
Muhammad Rizwan, who made his ODI and T20i debut in 2015, was the automatic choice for selectors to fulfill the wicket-keeping role previously held by Sarfaraz Ahmed. This was one of the many great achievements that were yet to come in the subsequent years. After his comeback in 2019 to the international team, he proved to be a solid opener for the team.
After he was appointed in 2020, he was also made the captain of PSL's franchise, Multan Sultan. This was after Karachi Kings, released him from their team for the PSL 2020. Multan Sultans went on to qualify for the knockout stages the same year for the first time, under Muhammad Rizwan's captaincy. In 2021, Muhammad Rizwan led Multan Sultans to the finals and eventually winning it for the first time.
His performances in the international team were no different. Whether it be Tests, T20is, or ODIs, he proved his worth in all of them. Among his many amazing and match-winning performances were:
- The 89 of 59 balls in December 2020 against new Zealand, which became his career-best T20i score of that time. This inning was also important as it saved Pakistan from getting white-washed.
- In February 2021, South Africa toured Pakistan, when Rizwan Ahmed scored his first test century and went was awarded player of the series.
- In the same series, he also scored his first T20i century, making him the second Pakistani to score centuries in all three formats of cricket. He also became the second wicket-keeper to achieve this feat in the world.
- In April 2021, along with Babar Azam, Rizwan scored the highest partnership for a wicket while chasing, by scoring a combined 197 runs against South Africa.
Following his accomplishments in T20i, he gained significant points and went on to gain better rankings in T20is. In November 2019, soon after his comeback, his international ranking in T20i was 264. However, after South Africa's home series concluded in February 2021, he gained his career-best ranking, 42. Pakistan went on to play a series with South Africa in April 2021, and after Rizwan's magnificent performances, his rank went up to 15.
After the recent tour of England in July this year, Rizwan became the top 7th player in the t20i rankings. He scored 176 runs in the T20i series. His fabulous form continued in the series against Westindies, when in the second T20i, he scored 46 of 36 balls and gained his career-best ranking, being on 6th.
When asked about achieving a world record, he said, "Indeed this is a moment of pride for me", and that it was for the nation as well, as it was a world record. After achieving the feat. He also said that he had never thought he'd be scoring a world record.
With a total of 1065 runs to his name in 43 T20i matches and a strike rate of 48.40, Pakistanis are hopeful that he will continue his form in the long run and continue winning matches for Pakistan.
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