Mohammad Rizwan Becomes Pakistan’s First Batter to Be Strategically Retired Out in T20 Cricket

Prolific wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan became the first Pakistani player to be retired out during a batting innings in T20 cricket. The incident occurred in the recent BBL match, in which Rizwan was called back by the Melbourne Renegades captain Will Sutherland. The decision was made due to Rizwan’s poor batting performance, as he was playing with a slow strike rate in the middle.

Mohammad Rizwan is currently playing for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL 15 season. While batting against Sydney Thunder in a recent match, he managed to score just 26 off 23 balls with the help of two fours and a six. His innings was going nowhere as Renegades needed a quick burst towards the end of the innings to lift the scoring rate.

When Mohammad Rizwan was called back to the pavilion, Melbourne Renegades were 154 for 5 at the end of the 18th over. As only two overs were left after that, the team management decided to send someone to the crease who could launch big sixes. The captain, Will Sutherland, took the responsibility to replace Mohammad Rizwan, however, he too failed to deliver any notable impact on the scoreboard.

Due to this strategic decision taken by Melbourne Renegades, Mohammad Rizwan became the first overseas batter in the ongoing BBL season to be retired out of the match. His recent performances in BBL have been very disappointing, as he has managed to score just 167 runs in eight matches at a modest average of 20.87. This defines that Rizwan is currently struggling to find form in the BBL where batting on hard bouncy pitches is often considered difficult.

Interestingly, Will Sutherland who replaced Mohammad Rizwan at the crease, managed to score only one run in the next over. He was run out on the penultimate ball of the 19th over, adding further pressure on the batting of Melbourne Renegades. Due to that, they managed to score just 170 runs in the first innings, which clearly looked like a below-par score at the Engie Stadium.

As the rain halted the match for a brief period of time, the target was readjusted to just 140 runs in the second innings. Chris Green then came up with a blazing performance towards the end to seal the chase for Sydney Thunder. He was also named Player of the Match after the contest, as his allround performance allowed Thunders to stay ahead of Melbourne Renegades in both innings.