Mohammad Rizwan - Pakistan - WK-Batsman

Mohammad Rizwan is a highly rated wicket-keeper batsman from Peshawar who idolizes Adam Gilchrist. He made his First Class debut for Peshawar in 2008 and impressed the selectors after a series of note-worthy performances with the bat and gloves. From Peshawar College team at the age of 17 to Pakistan national team at the age of 22 - it was an incredible hard-working journey for Rizwan.

In the earlier stages of his Under-19 career, he found it hard to cope up with the pressure of playing white-ball cricket. He, however, managed to overcome tough times with the help of his domestic coaches and mentors. After an 87-ball 103 from Rizwan steered Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Fighters to clinch the
Pentangular One Day Cup with a six-wicket win in the final against Baluchistan Warriors, he pushed his case further for claiming a spot in the national side. Moreover, Peshawar Panthers became national T20 champions in 2014 and 2015 with Rizwan playing a pivotal role.

A big fan of the Brazil Football team, Rizwan is a full time wicket-keeper as well as a super fielder, anywhere on the ground. A busy batsman, Rizwan buzzes like a bee in the ears of the opposition while in full flow. He scored a valiant 67 off 58 balls in a losing cause in his debut game against Bangladesh in
2015. The retirements of Younis Khan and Misbah after the 2015 WC had opened up slots in the middle order and Rizwan had a dream start. He even landed a Test debut in New Zealand during Pakistan's 2016 tour although he played just that solitary game with a duck in his maiden innings.

It did seem that Rizwan would go on to become a mainstay of Pakistan's limited-overs outfit considering his attacking stroke play and wicket-keeping skills which would bring tremendous balance to the side's composition. However, his form dipped and what followed was a series of low scores. Pakistan's
a disastrous tour of Australia in 2016-17 was probably the push that the selectors needed to nip out the non-performers and Rizwan found himself out of the side after which he hasn't been picked for the national team again.

Rizwan's performances in the shortest format have been disappointing to say the least with all the flair he possesses. However, with age clearly on his side, Rizwan's career isn't done by any means. The fact that Pakistan's captain Sarfraz Ahmed is a wicket-keeper batsman might go against the young Peshawar
lad but his ability as a batsman and mobility as a fielder should earn him a spot as a specialist batsman if his bat can do the talking in the domestic circuit. Rizwan's recent form has been good and he will know more than anyone else that he has to keep them coming.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan