The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi heaped praise on Mohammad Rizwan for his unbeaten 171-run knock in the first innings of the opening Test against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Mohsin Naqvi lauded Mohammad Rizwan and asserted that the latter has proven himself as an asset for the Pakistan Test side.
“What an unstoppable force Muhammad Rizwan has proven to be in the Test Match today! Congratulations to him for scoring 150 runs with the help of 9 Fours and 3 Sixes! He has surely proven himself to be an asset for Test Cricket in Pakistan.
“What a treat to watch! Hoping to see his performance elevate in the coming matches as well, he has surely made Pakistani Cricket Fans proud,” he added.
Notably, Mohammad Rizwan missed out on a well-deserved double century as Pakistan declared their first innings at 448/6.
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He remained the top-scorer for the home side with an unbeaten 171 off 239 deliveries, laced up with 11 fours and three sixes, followed by Saud Shakeel, who scored 141 with the help of nine boundaries.
With his monumental knock, the 32-year-old joined the elite group of Pakistani wicketkeepers who crossed the 150-run mark in Test cricket, which includes Imtiaz Ahmed, Taslim Arif, Rashid Latif, and Kamran Akmal.
This marks the first time since 2009 that a wicketkeeper-batsman from Pakistan has scored 150 runs in a single Test match.
Mohammad Rizwan started day two with 24 runs, however, he and Saud Shakeel dominated two sessions with a 240-run stand before Mehidy Hasan Miraz removed the latter.
Notably, the two-match series between Pakistan and Bangladesh is part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) and will run from August 21 to September 4 with both matches to be played at the same venue.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Ali.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana.
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