The emergence of a number attacking wicket-keeper\/batsmen in Pakistan is not a competition that intimidates national team mainstay Mohammad Rizwan, who, inst\u00acead, is on a search for more of his breed.
\nRizwan\u2019s ability with the gloves has never been looked at with doubt but in the last two and a half years, he has silenced many who used to consider him as a batter who cannot hit the ball hard.
\nSince being promoted to the top of Pakistan\u2019s T20 batting order in late 2020, Rizwan has consistently scored quick runs for the national side as well as in franchise T20 leagues including the HBL Pakistan Super League.
\nThe Multan Sultans captain, however, is not anymore the only wicket-keeper\/batter in the country who can strike sixes and fours at will, which may have been the case two years ago.
\nIn the ongoing eighth season of the PSL, Peshawar Zalmi\u2019s Mohammad Haris and Islamabad United\u2019s Azam Khan have demonstrated their ability to clear the boundary consistently more than once.
\nBoth players have already won their international caps and are in line to replace Rizwan when the time comes. The Pakistan vice captain, however, wishes to see more quality wicket-keepers added to the national squad.
\n\u201cI\u2019d love to have not one or two but at least five wicket-keepers in the Pakistan squad,\u201d Rizwan told media on Wednesday. \u201cBut they need to meet the required standards for it.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not fazed by the competition; in fact, I\u2019m myself trying to search for more wicket-keepers in Pakistan.\u201d
\nRizwan is impressed by Quetta-born youngster Haseebullah Khan in particular. The 18-year-old left-hander was Pakistan\u2019s highest run-getter in last year\u2019s U-19 World Cup and topped the run-scoring charts in the Pakistan Cup \u2013 the national 50-over tournament.
\nHe scored a brilliant half-century on his PSL debut for Peshawar Zalmi on Wednesday, showing no fear against Karachi Kings\u2019 bowlers.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve recently seen Haseebullah, he is performing well and his technique is really good,\u201d said Rizwan. \u201cHowever, it is important for players (performing in the domestic circuit) to play at the level that is required as a Pakistan player, otherwise the performances go to waste.\u201d
\nHaris, Azam and Haseebullah are surely knocking on the doors for national selection but Rizwan too isn\u2019t relenting with the bat. He is currently the highest run-scorer in the ongoing PSL season with 358 runs at an average of 82 and has also scored a century.
\nHis performances have boosted Multan Sultans to four wins out of six games so far. All their wins have come at their home ground; the Multan Cricket Stadium. Home advantage, for Rizwan, doesn\u2019t count as a very important factor.
\n\u201cThe way we have played in Multan, we will try to carry that momentum on to other venues as well,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think any of the venues particularly favours a specific team but the crowd does make a little impact.\u201d
\nThe Sultans\u2019 previous outing was a 66-run drubbing by Karachi Kings at the National Stadium here, in which they surely looked like a side that missed home.
\nThe contest saw their southpaw-heavy middle-order struggle against off-spin bowling, particularly that of Kings all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who cleaned up dangerman Rilee Rossouw and took Rizwan\u2019s wicket as well.
\n\u201cWe are well aware of the challenges at play having left-handers throughout our middle-order but against Karachi, it was the first time that they really struggled,\u201d argued Rizwan. \u201cI couldn\u2019t really judge the pitch. How Shoaib Malik bowled that day was worth watching. But I\u2019m sure how big these names are they will be able to tackle spinners in the coming matches but it is also important for us to be prepared accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The emergence of a number attacking wicket-keeper\/batsmen in Pakistan is not a competition that intimidates national team mainstay Mohammad Rizwan, who, inst\u00acead, is on a search for more of his breed. Rizwan\u2019s ability with the gloves has never been looked at with doubt but in the last two and a half years, he has silenced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n