KARACHI: Pakistan’s wicket-keeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan will have his maiden stint in county cricket next year after being signed by Sussex for the majority of the 2022 season.
According to the announcement made by the country, Rizwan will join Sussex after the conclusion of Australia’s tour to Pakistan on April 5 and will be available for the majority of the County Championship season and the whole of the T20 Blast.
He will open the batting alongside Luke Wright in the Blast, replacing Phil Salt – who has left for Lancashire – as a top-order keeper/batter, and is a replacement for Ben Brown in the Championship side following his request to be released from his contract two years early.
Rizwan is the fourth Pakistan international to sign for a county for 2022 after Shan Masood (Derbyshire), Zafar Gohar (Gloucestershire) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Middlesex).
Mohammad was full of positivity after signing for Sussex, sending this message to the club’s supporters, “I am absolutely honoured and excited to be a part of the historic Sussex County Cricket Club for the 2022 season. I have always heard great things about the Sussex community and this family club was always close to my heart.”
“In my heart, I know our young team has the potential to beat any team. Our strength lies in our hard work, honesty, deep commitment, and self-belief: we can win, we will win, and we will play like champions, no matter what, I look forward to a great season,” he added.
Ian Salisbury, Sussex’s Championship and One-Day Head Coach said that he’s delighted that Sussex has secured the services of one of the world’s best keeper-batters as a replacement.
“Mohammad Rizwan’s first-class and Test records speak for themselves and it’s a huge coup to welcome him to Sussex for a big chunk of next season’s Championship,” Salisbury said.
“As well as his playing credentials, it’s clear from speaking to people like Mushy [Mushtaq Ahmed] and Saqlain [Mushtaq] that Rizwan will also be a wonderful addition to the dressing room,” he said.
Rizwan’s performance
As well as being regarded as one of the most accomplished ‘keepers in the world, the 29-year-old from Peshawar also has a formidable batting record in all formats. In first-class cricket, Mohammad averages over 43 with the bat, including nearly 1,000 runs in 19 Test matches at an average of over 42.
He enjoyed significant success in English conditions during Pakistan’s three-match Test series in 2020, averaging over 40, being named Pakistan’s player of the series and is described by Nasser Hussain as “the best for a long, long time” when it came to touring wicketkeepers.
In 54 T20Is, Mohammad averages a stunning 50.06 with the bat at a strike-rate of 126.6. He has enjoyed a stellar 2021, becoming the first batter to score over a thousand T20I runs in a calendar year and surpassed Chris Gayle’s six-year-old record for the most T20 runs scored in a calendar year.
He was also the third highest run-scorer in the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scoring 281 runs in six innings as Pakistan made it to the semi-finals, and is now ranked by the ICC as the world’s fourth best batter in men’s T20Is.
