This below post from Pakpassion is even better and I thought Himmanv hating on Sanga was illogical this guy takes the cake Rizwan must have really done something to him.
Rizwan was disaster in the middle-order, and to save his career Misbah gave him a lifeline as an opener because he didn’t want to open the door for a Sarfraz return.
Rizwan has scored heavily, there is no about that. However, Rizwan has not had a big impact in terms of winning Pakistan matches against big teams.
In fact, his dot ball percentage in the PP overs and his dependency on the leg side has often proved to be detrimental against big sides. Sure he was won a couple of matches against India in Dubai, but it is the easiest venue to chase.
Pakistan would have lost both these games had they batted first, just like they lost the first Asia Cup match where Rizwan made sure that Pakistan settle for a below par total by playing a nothing innings.
Both Babar and Rizwan are in the same boat. They are average T20 players but they have been given a free ride because there are no alternatives and the management does not hold them accountable.
I think we need to accept that this pair is not ideal but they are the best we have got considering the lack of talent in the country.
Fakhar is a hack but the most useful hack that we have. He is the only one in the team capable of scoring a 45 ball ton on his day, but I feel he has gone into his shell and is trying to mimic Babar and Rizwan by converting himself into an accumulator so that he can match their output.
Unfortunately, he cannot make this work and also, considering the fact that the duo waste so many PP overs with their selfish batting, Fakhar does not even have the time to bat like them.
When Babar and Rizwan are 15 (15), they are under no pressure to slog because they know that the 15 (15) will eventually turn into 50 (35) because they have time on their side, but because of these two, everyone else in the team is forced to slog like a mad man and frankly none of them are talented enough to make it worse consistently.
This duo has made life very difficult for the likes of Fakhar, Asif, Khushdil, Nawaz etc. Nawaz played a blinder the other day but he was forced to slog from ball one because Rizwan was not going to take initiative and luckily for Nawaz, it paid off for him.
On another day, he holes out for 10 (4) and then he gets bashed while Rizwan is praised for “holding the fort”.
People justify Rizwan and Babar because it is their role to play anchor but you can only have one anchor and playing anchor in T20s is much easier than playing the aggressor because you have a bigger margin for error and you can justify a 50 (35) or a 70 (50) but the aggressor has to regularly score 50 (25) to justify his selection.
Rizwan has also earned a lot of plaudits for his personality and behavior but is becoming very annoying now. A PR machine.
Like Shadab, he has become a camera merchant who has also has to do something on the field with the hope that the camera will catch him.
He tries to be over-friendly with the opposition, when he gets inured he is always overreacting to show that he is in a lot of pain and fighting for his team in agony. Even that praying in the stadium thing has become part of his gimmick.
During the previous World T20, his PR machine cooked up a story on how he was facing a life and death situation before the semifinal and had to sneak out of the ICU to make himself available.
He had to see a doctor after the India match the other day for a minor precautionary check and I won’t be surprised if his PR team milks it again.
