Image: Mohammad Rizwan (Wikimedia Commons)
Mohammad Rizwan: The Late Bloomer Who Rewrote the Record Books
Some careers follow a straight line upward. Mohammad Rizwan’s didn’t, and that’s precisely what makes it worth telling properly. For years, he was cricket’s answer to a talented understudy who never gets the lead role. Then, in his late twenties, something clicked, and he went from fringe squad member to the most prolific T20 batter on the planet in a calendar year.
Peshawar, tape-ball cricket, and a long wait
Rizwan was born on 1 June 1992 in Peshawar. His first-class debut for Peshawar in the 2008-09 season was immediately promising — five fifties, four of them unbeaten, in his first seven innings. Instead of fast-tracking, Rizwan spent years grinding through domestic cricket. In the 2014-15 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, Rizwan produced a 224 that helped his side to a 301-run first-innings lead and their second title.
Understudy to Sarfaraz, for a very long time
Rizwan made his ODI and T20I debuts for Pakistan in April 2015, and his Test debut in November 2016. For the next several years, his international career existed largely in the shadow of Sarfaraz Ahmed. The break came almost by accident. Sarfaraz sat out the final five games of Pakistan’s tour to South Africa in January 2019 while serving a ban, and Rizwan finally got an uninterrupted run.
2021: the year everything changed
From the start of 2021 through the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, Rizwan scored over 600 more T20 runs than the next best batter in the world — who happened to be his own opening partner, Babar Azam. The Rizwan-Babar opening partnership became, statistically, the most consistent pairing in T20I history: 2,538 partnership runs across 52 innings. In 2021 alone, Rizwan scored 1,326 T20I runs at an average of 73.66 — the most runs scored by anyone in T20 internationals in a single calendar year.
He picked up a T20I century against South Africa in February 2021, becoming the first Pakistani wicketkeeper to score a T20I hundred. The PCB named him Most Valuable Cricketer for 2021.
Captaincy, and the T20 slowdown that followed
Rizwan went on to captain Pakistan across all three formats at different points. But cricket has a way of correcting for extremes, and criticism grew that he wasn’t using the powerplay aggressively enough. After a poor T20 World Cup campaign in 2024, he lost the captaincy, and eventually his spot in the T20I side altogether.
Captaining Multan, and the franchise years
Everything changed when he took over as Multan Sultans captain in 2021, leading them to their first-ever PSL title that year and to the final in each of the following two seasons. Individually, he’s amassed well over 2,700 PSL runs.
What actually makes him effective
Rizwan’s game has never been about brute power. It’s built on unusually calm shot selection under pressure, a wicketkeeping technique regarded as among the tidiest in world cricket, and genuine physical durability.
Where things stand
Mohammad Rizwan’s career is, in a sense, a rebuttal to the idea that cricket only rewards early bloomers. He spent the better part of a decade in the background before producing two years so statistically dominant they’ll likely be referenced in T20 record books for a long time yet.
Quick facts
Full name: Mohammad Rizwan | Born: 1 June 1992, Peshawar | Role: Right-handed wicketkeeper-batter | Notable: Most T20I runs in a calendar year (1,326 in 2021), first player to 2,000 T20 runs in a calendar year, PCB Most Valuable Cricketer 2021, PSL-winning captain with Multan Sultans.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Mohammad Rizwan?
Born on 1 June 1992, Mohammad Rizwan is in his mid-thirties as of 2026.
What record does Mohammad Rizwan hold?
The most T20I runs scored by any player in a single calendar year (1,326 in 2021), plus the record for first player to 2,000 T20 runs across all cricket in a calendar year.
Why did Mohammad Rizwan lose the T20I captaincy?
Following a poor 2024 T20 World Cup campaign and criticism of his conservative strike rate, he lost the captaincy and his T20I place.
Which PSL team does Mohammad Rizwan captain?
Multan Sultans, whom he led to their first-ever PSL title in 2021.
What is Mohammad Rizwan’s most famous partnership?
His opening partnership with Babar Azam, the most prolific pairing in T20I history with 2,538 combined runs.
Related players
Babar Azam · Shaheen Shah Afridi · Shadab Khan · Browse more on our Players page
Researched and fact-checked against official league, federation and governing-body sources. Reviewed by Makhdoomzada Zaeem Muhammad, Founder & Editor, PinLivescore.