In Twenty20 cricket, Muhammad Rizwan is a consistent batsman. Recently, against New Zealand, in the second Twenty20, he remained unbeaten on 45 runs, setting the record for the fastest 3000 runs in just 79 innings for Pakistan.
Rizwan reached the milestone of 3000 runs in just 79 innings. Previously, Babar Azam and Virat Kohli jointly achieved this milestone in 81 innings. Muhammad Rizwan’s achievement of scoring 3000 runs quickly has earned him praise as Pakistan’s Bradman in Twenty20 cricket and the superhero of Pakistan by Shahid Afridi.
Afridi congratulated Rizwan for his achievement and acknowledged his impact on the game, silencing the doubters and inspiring many. Rizwan’s journey in Twenty20 cricket didn’t start off strong, with his highest score in the first 17 innings being an unbeaten 33.
However, in December 2020, during the series against New Zealand, he seized the opportunity as an opener and scored 89 runs in an innings.
Since then, Rizwan has been one of the top batsmen in Twenty20 cricket worldwide. In 2021, he averaged 73.66 in 29 matches, scoring 1326 runs with a strike rate of 134.89. He has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year as an international cricketer for the first time, with an average strike rate of 134.89. Out of 13 fifty-plus innings, one was a three-digit score, which was his best year in his career.
In 2022, he has scored at an average of 45.27 in 25 matches. Last year, he played 5 matches and averaged 54. This year, in 8 matches so far, his average is 62.
However, there have been questions raised about his strike rate. Although his average in Twenty20 cricket is around 50, his strike rate is 127.42.
Besides Rizwan, Kohli, and Babar, five other players have scored 3000 runs in Twenty20 cricket – Aaron Finch from Australia, David Warner, Martin Guptill from New Zealand, Rohit Sharma from India, and Paul Stirling from Ireland.
