Mohammad Rizwan forced to retire out in BBL after strike rate concerns against Sydney Thunder: Watch
Mohammad Rizwan was controversially retired out for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL against Sydney Thunder after a slow 26 off 23 balls. His poor strike rate capped a disappointing season, raising fresh doubts over his future in Pakistan’s T20I side.
Former Pakistan captain Mohammed Rizwan faced a humiliating moment when the keeper-batter was asked to retire out in the Big Bash League (BBL) clash against Sydney Thunder. Batting at four, the 33-year-old was struggling with his strike rate as the Melbourne Renegades player made only 26 runs off 23 balls before he was called back to the dressing room. During his stay at the crease, Rizwan hit only two boundaries and a six in 23 balls, which isn’t acceptable in modern T20 cricket. With that, he also became the first overseas cricketer in BBL history to be retired out.
Overall, he has had a subpar tournament, scoring 167 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 101.82, which is extremely poor and concerning. In the match against Thunder, he was struggling immensely and in the 18th over, the team arguably had enough as they needed some firepower to end the innings. Will Sutherland was asked to replace Rizwan in the middle, but the 26-year-old couldn’t add much, as he made one before being run out.
The Renegades posted 170 runs on the board in the first innings, courtesy of a valuable knock from Hassan Khan, who made 46 runs in 31 balls. Opener Josh Brown scored 35. For Thunder, David Willey, Ryan Hadley and Wes Agar claimed two wickets each.
What’s next for Rizwan?
Rizwan was dropped from the Pakistan T20I team for a while and for the same reason, he didn’t feature in the Asia Cup. After a defeat to India in the final, the PCB management called him back to the set-up, but the cricketer couldn’t make a huge difference. Now, after a poor season in the BBL, it needs to be seen if Rizwan manages to hold his spot in Pakistan’s T20I squad or gets dropped ahead of the T20 World Cup.
When it comes to the ongoing clash, Renegades managed a good start with the ball. The absence of David Warner hurt the team early on, especially as the southpaw was in remarkable form. Thee hosts were reduced to 66/3 as they have a mountain to climb now.