The second ODI between West Indies and Pakistan saw Pakistan’s defeat, with Mohammad Rizwan emerging as a central figure of criticism. While Babar Azam’s early departure with zero runs contributed to the situation, the author highlights Rizwan’s performance as a bigger problem. It is argued that Rizwan, in his role as captain, cost Pakistan the match. The West Indies won the second ODI by 5 wickets, equalizing the series at 1-1, after Pakistan won the initial match.
In the match, which was reduced to 37 overs per innings, Pakistan batted first and scored 171 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. The West Indies was set a target of 181 runs in 35 overs by the Duckworth-Lewis method and achieved this in 33.2 overs with 5 wickets down. The article then examines the specifics of Rizwan’s performance.
Babar Azam was out after just three balls. Rizwan, on the other hand, took a long time to score, and the result was a poor strike rate and only 16 runs off 38 balls. The article questions why Rizwan did not try to accelerate the scoring. It suggests that if Rizwan was going to play such a long innings and get out without making a substantial score, he should have been out like Babar Azam instead.