Pakistan’s premier opening batsman, Mohammad Rizwan, who has been makingheadlines for making and breaking batting records this year, has bagged yetanother unique record.
Rizwan was adjudged as the Player Of the Series for his 90 runs in therecently concluded three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. It may looklike a small aggregate for a three-match series, however, considering thatthese runs came on the difficult pitches of Bangladesh is a significantfeat.
This was Rizwan’s third Player of the Series award in the calendar year,making him the first-ever player to achieve this unique feat in the historyof T20I cricket.
Prior to this, the Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam, and the former Bangladeshcaptain, Shakib Al Hasan, held the record with two awards each in acalendar year in 2018.
The right-handed batsman, who was promoted to the top order during the NewZealand T20I series earlier this year in the absence of Babar Azam, hasturned out to be an invaluable asset for Pakistan. Since the New Zealandseries, Rizwan has accumulated more than 1,000 T20I runs in a calendaryear, a feat no cricketer has ever achieved in the history of T20I cricket.
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The 29-year old has been in remarkable form throughout the calendar year.So far, Rizwan has scored 1,123 runs at an average of 74.87 in 23 inningshe has played in T20I cricket in 2021.
Rizwan is also the leading run-scorer in T20 cricket in a calendar year. Herecently broke the record held by the West Indian legend, Chris Gayle, forthe most runs in T20 cricket in a year. Rizwan has scored 1,833 runs at anaverage of 56.03 in 42 innings he has played in T20 cricket in 2021.
The gritty wicket-keeper batter has three more matches in the upcoming T20Iseries against West Indies to cross the 2,000 run mark in T20 cricket in acalendar year.
