Mohammad Rizwan’s slow approach to scoring runs throughout his Asia Cup 2022 stint has let people criticize the batter. Although he has been the top-run scorer of the tournament, but a strike rate of 117.57 is something that is not adored by the critics.
His failure to open the inning aggressively alongside Babar Azam dragged the wicketkeeping batter into hot waters since the masses were expecting to see smokey batting in the powerplay. Where other teams were scoring boundaries with only two fielders outside the circle, Rizwan was noticed calmly going with an SR near 100.
T20, a format that needs a batsman to play with his bat, blowing fours and sixes across the ground, has not often seen Pakistani openers following an aggressive approach. Where Babar failed to score appealing runs throughout the Asia Cup 2022, Rizwan’s failure to rotate the strike was another thing experts and fans do not want to take for granted on big occasions.
The team was in chase of 171 runs from 120 balls in the event’s final against Sri Lanka. After Babar lost an early wicket, Rizwan was supposed to give a solid start but ended up with 55 off 49 balls. The former cricketers, including Shoaib Akhtar, Inzamam ul Haq, and others, loaded the batter ‘responsible’ for the loss.
Saqlain Mushtaq, the head coach of the team, was quick to note all the hate comments and has strongly responded to all. He says a person sees a match from the outside and talks about it, not knowing what happens inside. According to him, only the people close to cricketers working with them know what actions must be taken.
“Unki soch hai. Jo bahir log baithe hote hai na wo bahir se cheezon ko dekhte hai aur uske upar baat kar dete hai (It’s their thinking, people observe things from outside and pass their remarks on it),”
“It’s not their mistake. They saw the result and scorecard and made their comments. They have no idea about what is happening inside the dressing room, what the players feel about their confidence and the injuries they are carrying. I have worked as an expert for three years. So I know how things work. Once they work closely with the cricketers from inside, only then will they get to know about the team bonding, the environment,”
