Mohammad Rizwan is a prominent Pakistani cricketer known for his right-handed batting and wicket-keeping skills. Rizwan was dropped from Pakistan’s provisional T20 World Cup 2026 squad primarily due to his slow strike rate in T20 cricket.
Key Reasons
- Pakistan’s team selectors moved away from a slow “anchor” batting style. They now want aggressive scoring right from the powerplay overs. Rizwan’s partnerships, especially with Babar Azam, were criticized for not building big enough totals—often 20-30 runs short.
- His recent T20 stats, like a PSL strike rate of about 120 and even lower internationally, don’t fit modern T20 cricket, which needs high strike rates and lots of sixes.
- He was dropped earlier too, like in the Asia Cup 2025, to pick faster scorers like Mohammad Haris.
Team Overhaul
The team selectors chose players who play aggressively right from the start of the innings, instead of someone like Rizwan who bats steadily to build big scores in T20 matches. This shift came after recent tournaments like the Asia Cup 2025, where slow scoring rates led to some players being dropped earlier.
Also Read: Why Mohammed Shami was dropped from India’s T20 World 2026 Squad?
Mohammad Rizwan stats in T20Is
Mohammad Rizwan has played 93 T20I matches as a wicketkeeper-batsman for Pakistan, scoring 3,414 runs with a highest score of 104.
| Matches | Runs | Average | HS |
| 72 | 3,414 | 47.4 | 104 |
