Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan is a Pakistani international cricketer who performs as a right-handed batter and wicket-keeper. He currently captains the Rawalpindiz franchise in the Pakistan Super League and leads the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team in domestic cricket. Rizwan has previously served as the captain for Pakistan in ODIs and held vice-captain roles in Test matches and T20Is.

Early life and education

Rizwan was born on 1 June 1992 in Peshawar. He grew up in a Pashtun family of six siblings. His father is Akhter Parvez, and Rizwan is the second of three brothers. He began his cricket journey playing tape ball before he joined various clubs. He played for Islamia College and Shama Club, which eventually led to him representing Peshawar Under-19 in 2007.

Career

Rizwan made his first-class debut for Peshawar during the 2008–09 season. He hit five 50s in his first seven innings, including four times remaining unbeaten. His performances attracted Basit Ali, who recruited him to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited for the 2011–12 season. During the 2014–15 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, he scored 224 runs to help his team secure a second title. He also kept wicket for Pakistan A during five limited-overs matches against Kenya in December 2014.

His domestic leadership roles expanded when he was named vice-captain of Punjab's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup. On 1 May 2018, he achieved his highest List A total by scoring 140 runs against Federal Areas. He later captained the Federal Areas squad in 2019 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In October 2019, he earned the player of the tournament title in the National T20 Cup by scoring 215 runs and taking six wickets.

In the Pakistan Super League, Rizwan played for Lahore Qalandars from 2016 to 2017. He moved to Karachi Kings for the period between 2018 and 2020. His career changed significantly when he was appointed captain of the Multan Sultans in 2021. He led the Sultans to their first PSL title that same year and guided them to two runner-up finishes. He has amassed 2,735 runs in 82 matches for the franchise.

Rizwan also competes in international T20 leagues. He played for the Sylhet Strikers in the Bangladesh Premier League between 2017 and 2022. He later represented the Comilla Victorians during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In 2025, he joined the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots as a replacement for Fazalhaq Farooqi. He was also selected by the Melbourne Renegades in June 2025 for the upcoming season.

His international career began with an ODI debut against Bangladesh in April 2015. He debuted in T20Is during that same series, but his Test debut did not arrive until 25 November 2016. After being awarded a central contract in 2018, he scored his first Test century against Australia in March 2019. In July 2020, he played an excellent Test series against England and was named the player of the series.

Rizwan achieved historic milestones in February 2021 during a series against South Africa. He scored an unbeaten 115 in Test cricket and followed it with an unbeaten 104 in T20Is. These performances made him only the second wicket-keeper batter to score centuries in all three international formats. He also holds the record for the most runs in T20 Internationals in a single calendar year, totaling 1,326 runs. He remains the only player to reach 2,000 runs in a calendar year in T20s.

Awards and recognition

In 2021, Rizwan was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year. He was also recognized as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. During his domestic career, he was named the player of the tournament for the 2019–20 National T20 Cup.