Muhamamd Rizwan becomes First Pakistani wicket-keeper batsman to score century across all formats

Wicket-keeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan has become the first wicket-keeper batsman from Pakistan to score a century across all formats when he scored 104 n.o. off 64 balls against South Africa during the first T20 International of the three-match series at the Gaddafi stadium.

Muhammad Rizwan, who was adjudged Player of the Match for his match winning knock laced with seven 6s and four 4s, also scored his maiden century in test matches last Sunday against South Africa, while he has 2 ODI centuries under his belt which the diminutive wicket-keeper batsman scored against Australia in 2019.

With this record, he became only the second wicket-keeper batsman in the world after Brendon McCullum of New Zealand with at least one century in ODIs, T20Is and Test matches.

Muhammad Rizwan is the second Pakistani batsman after opening batsman Ahmed Shahzad who achieved this record with a T20I century against Bangladesh in 2014.

With the highest score by a Pakistani wicket-keeper batsman in T20Is, Muhammad Rizwan also became the fifth wicket-keeper to score a hundred in the format after Brendon McCullum (NZ), Muhamamd Shahzad (Afghanistan), Morne van Wyk (South Africa) and Leslie Dunbar (Serbia).

Muhammad Rizwan’s maiden T20I century enabled Pakistan team to post a challenging total of 169 which proved insurmountable for the proteas who fell 3 runs short of the total.

Talking to the media after receiving Man of the Match trophy in the post-match ceremony on Thursday night, Muhammad Rizwan said it was an honour to be only the fifth wicket-keeper batsman of the world and first from Pakistan who has scored a T20I century, adding gleefully he was pleased to contribute to the team’s success.

“There is nothing impossible in the world. An individual needs to put up dedicated efforts and God rewards with success”, he responded to a query.

About his innings, he said that he paced his innings according to the pitch condition as it gripped the ball in the initial part of Pakistan innings, adding that he wanted to build the innings after Captain Babar Azam got run out in the very first over of the match. “Scoring a century was never on my mind and all I thought was amassing a good total on the board for the team”, Rizwan said, adding that he went broke towards the second part of the Pakistan innings to post a big total.

He said conditions were tough for the batsmen of both the teams, adding that Usman Qadir, Muhammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf all bowled well to contain South Africa.

About team morale, the wicket-keeper batsman said the team has been on a winning streak since winning the last T20 international of the New Zealand tour with 2-0 victory in the test rubber against South Africa and buoyed by the victory in the first T20 today, adding that team Pakistan will maintain the momentum in the upcoming matches against the proteas.