Mohammad Rizwan, Adil Rashid and marriage proposals… ENGLAND v PAKISTAN TALKING POINTS

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY looks back on the talking points from the third T20I between England and Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford

Forget Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan is Pakistan – and the world’s – form T20 batsman

If asked to name the best white-ball batsman for Pakistan right now, many people would say Babar Azam. And, ranked number one in the ODI batting standings and number two in the T20I standings by the ICC, it would be hard to argue with that opinion. However, on current form and current form alone, the best T20 batsman in Pakistan, and indeed the world, is arguably Mohammad Rizwan.

He took his time to break into Pakistan’s XI, spending several years of his international career playing as a pawn for then wicketkeeper and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. Play well or Rizwan will replace you was the message.

However, since making his first T20I appearance for two years in 2019, Rizwan has slowly but surely edged Ahmed out of the first XI. From his 2021 stats, you can see why. Heading into the match at Old Trafford, the 29-year-old had scored 630 runs in 12 innings, failing to pass 30 on just three occasions and scoring seven 50+ knocks, including 104 not out from 64 balls against South Africa in February.

And on this Tuesday evening, it was a similar story. Where Azam looked shaky, itching to rotate the strike during the powerplay and leave his partner to weather David Willey, Saqib Mahmood, and Chris Jordan, Rizwan oozed control and calm. Aside from a near miss in the first over – a glance off his thigh pad nicking through to a diving Jos Buttler – he rarely looked troubled by England’s bowlers, picking off huge boundaries whenever the opportunity came his way, reading the bowlers well and surviving the spin onslaught in the middle overs where his teammates fell like skittles.

The most damning illustration of the gulf in class between Rizwan and his teammates came in the 18th over. In an attempt to propel Pakistan beyond the 160-mark, Rizwan pushed for three off the third ball of Jordan’s over. He made his ground comfortably but Imad Wasim, jogging for two, was runout by Jonny Bairstow and Jordan, and rightly walked off with his head down.

Rizwan finished his side’s innings unbeaten on 76 from 57 balls, not the most dynamic of T20 knocks but with five fours and three sixes on his scorecard, it was a strong demonstration of his batting intelligence. He now has 706 runs off 501 balls in 13 innings in 2021 – 234 more than the man in second place, coincidentally his captain, Azam.

^{Mohammad Rizwan}

Keeping Adil Rashid fit crucial to England’s World Cup hopes

During England’s victorious 2019 Cricket World Cup campaign, where he bowled 92 overs – the second most in the England team – and took 11 wickets, Adil Rashid was plagued with a shoulder injury, only getting through the tournament thanks to steroid injections. Indeed, so keen is he to preserve his spin powers that the 33-year-old hasn’t played a first-class fixture since January 2019. And from his displays against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, it’s clear keeping the Yorkshireman fit is crucial to Eoin Morgan’s side’s T20 World Cup hopes this autumn.

Against Sri Lanka, Rashid bowled nine overs in three matches, taking four wickets and conceding just 5.55 runs per over. He then sat out the first T20I against Pakistan at Trent Bridge before making a triumphant return on home turf at Headingley. He took two wickets as part of a spin masterclass with Matt Parkinson and Mooen Ali, which saw Pakistan lose five wickets in seven overs, and finished with figures of 2 for 30 from four overs.

And at Emirates Old Trafford, he was similarly influential. It’s almost as if Morgan and Rashid have a form of telepathy. Brought into the attack in the sixth over as Pakistan looked to get going, he struck gold with his first ball, bamboozling Azam with a googly which left the Pakistan captain stranded outside of his crease and stumped out by Buttler.

Following a two-over break, he returned and again made an immediate impact, this time tricking Sohaib Maqsood with a flighted delivery. The ball spooned up to Jason Roy at long on and Pakistan’s number three departed for 13. Hafeez followed three balls later, caught by Bairstow at deep square, and with his final ball of the evening, bowled in the 17th over, he had Shadab Khan caught by Livingstone in the deep.

True, Rashid didn’t put in an economical shift, taking a beating from Rizwan, who hit him for twin fours in his first over, and a monster six in his fourth, but he finished with respectable figures of 4 for 35 and took wickets at very crucial points of the game – perhaps most crucially of all, Pakistan’s talisman, Azam.

Morgan needs to wrap his senior leg spinner in bubble wrap for the next three months as he can’t risk a World Cup campaign without Rashid’s wicket-taking timing.

^{Mohammad Hafeez celebrates the wicket of Moeen Ali}

Mohammad Hafeez – Pakistan’s secret weapon?

Mohammad Hafeez’s bowling action is much-scrutinised. Indeed, it’s hard to keep track of the number of times he’s been banned, tested, and cleared of exceeding the 15 degree mark. And when Azam tossed him the ball at the end of the 11th over, the surprise around the ground was palpable.

And then he bowled a five-run over. Switch flicked. Suddenly, the Pakistan fielders were pumped, chasing down every ball, hunting in packs, hyping up each other and the crowd. A wicket fell in the 14th over, Imad Wasim dismissing Bairstow, and in 11 balls later, Hafeez completed his own fairy tale – three runs conceded and Moeen bowled.

Hafeez finished with figures of 3 for 28 from his four overs, picking up the wickets of Dawid Malan and Livingstone in the penultimate over to set up a blockbuster finish, and while Pakistan ultimately lost the match with two balls remaining, they may have recharged a game-changing weapon just months before the World Cup.  

England’s best T20 XI?

The 2021 T20 World Cup is fast approaching. England have just two T20Is in between now and then, both in mid-October against Pakistan when the World Cup squad will likely already be long confirmed.

Morgan’s teamsheet for his side’s tournament opener, whoever that may be against, is likely to look remarkably similar to this evening’s selection, with the additions of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer the only probable changes.

On current form, Stokes should come in for Malan. The number one T20 batsman has looked a shadow of his former self in 2021, struggling for runs on both the domestic and international circuits. And it’s unlikely his 33-ball 31 at Old Trafford will be enough to save him. Livingstone, however, has at the very least booked his spot on the plane and is a safe best for a starting berth. 426 Big Bash runs, 254 in the Blast, England’s fastest century during the first T20I at Trent Bridge, and a couple of monster sixes at Headingley – oh and he can bowl both leg and off-spin.

Archer, meanwhile, if fit, is a shoo-in to replace Mahmood. However, the Lancashire seamer is another who should probably start packing his suitcase with a supporting role ahead. Fighting it out for the minor places, spinner Matt Parkinson put forward a strong case at Headingley, bowling superbly in tandem with Rashid, while one should expect to see one of the Curran brothers on the plane, however divisive their selection might be.

^{Liam Livingstone}

Love is in the air

At the end of Rashid’s second over, as Morgan congratulated himself for yet another well selected bowling change and Pakistan lamented the idiotic hitting of Maqsood and Hafeez, the attention of the 20,000 spectators turned to a man called Phil, wearing a 1992 England jersey, as he got down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend, Jill. Fortunately, she said yes, and the happy couple were immediately mobbed by the delighted pocket of Pakistani fans in their midst. Nothing says intimate proposal quite like a chorus of vuvuzelas…