Mohammad Rizwan dragged out in BBL. Image Credits: X
Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan's dreaded time in the Big Bash League 2025/26 season just went from bad to worse on Monday evening, as the Melbourne Renegades faced Sydney Thunder and the batter was taken off by captain Will Sutherland following another poor outing with the bat.
The decision to retire out Rizwan in his 300th T20 match came with an intention to increase the scoring rate in the latter part of the innings to ensure a good first innings total and stay alive in the competition, as they play every match as a do-or-die game for the remainder of the league phase.
WATCH - Rizwan subbed off after another poor BBL innings
After being put in to bat by Thunder in the Sydney Showground Stadium, which happens to be a fairly high-scoring venue, Rizwan walked in at 4 after a good start given by the top-order, scoring 83/2 in 9.1 overs.
At the moment, when he was required to keep the scoring rate going to get a potentially winning total of over 180 runs, he got stuck and could only score 26 off his 23 balls at the crease.
The last nail in the coffin came at the end 17th over after his partner Hassan Khan was dropped by Cameron Bancroft at long-on and captain Will Sutherland called the Pakistani batter back to try and take on the bowling.
Following Rizwan's innings, where he got two fours and a six to his name before going out at 154 with 12 balls left, the Renegades could only add another 16 runs to the total, finishing at 170/8.
Having made the bold call to remove Rizwan, captain Sutherland got out dramatically. After a Daniel Sams delivery was hit straight back to him by Hassan, it flicked his fingers, and Sutherland had to head back to the pavilion run-out with 1 off 1.
Rizwan's poor form in BBL
The 33-year-old joined MR in BBL with the hope of having some solid performances under his belt and probably return to the Pakistan T20I set-up for the T20 World Cup 2026 after last playing a T20I back in December 2024. However, things have only gone south for the right-hand batter, who has only managed to score 167 runs in 8 innings.
His 167 in 8 innings have come at an extremely low strike rate of 101.82 and have the best score of 41 (38) vs city rivals Melbourne Stars. Going along with his poor form, his team has also managed to win 3 of their 7 matches in the competition, sitting 7th on the table with 6 points. A win against Thunder could help them go as high as 5, above the Brisbane Heat.
