Mohammad Rizwan cops a blow on the hand before finding Joe Burns in the slip cordon

Mohammad Rizwan has a massive task ahead of him in the two-match Test series versus Australia. Sarfaraz Ahmed, who has been the designated skipper for the Pakistan team for quite a few years, has been dropped. Hence, it’s now time for Rizwan to show his mettle. The 27-year-old didn’t have the best of outings in the three-match T20I series, scoring a mere 45 runs at an average of 15.

He is currently a part of the Pakistan side for their three-day warm-up match against Australia A at the Perth Stadium, a venue known for its pace and bounce. The Peshawar-born player had a pretty rough outing in the game thus far. After the visitors opted to bat first, Rizwan could only manage six off 22 balls with a solitary boundary. Fast bowler Jhye Richardson got rid of the youngster.

But his dismissal was a rather bizarre one. Richardson churned out a good length ball outside the off-stump. The ball bounced a wee bit more than what Rizwan expected and he copped a blow on the hand. Immediately, he released the bat on the pitch and started moving his right hand in pain.

Meanwhile, the leather flew to the packed slip-cordon. Joe Burns there didn’t make any mistake and took a rather simple catch. After Rizwan’s wicket, the Aussie keeper went and congratulated Burns for the catch. At that time, Pakistan’s score was 348 for the loss of eight wickets in 97.3 overs.

Here is the video

Rizwan has to go!

Struck on the hand again and the ball pops up to Burns in the cordon.

Watch #AusAvPAK: https://t.co/fej6gSpsJZ pic.twitter.com/OJNKZO4fyH

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 12, 2019

A reasonable outing for Pakistan

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan didn’t have a great start as Shan Masood, skipper Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail got out cheaply. Thereafter, it was the turn of Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam to show their class and calibre. Out of the two, Azam was the more attacking and he notched 157 off 197 before retiring out. His knock was laced with 24 scorching fours.

Shafiq didn’t disappoint either, scoring 119 off 245 balls with 12 fours and a six, and even he retired out. The duo shared a mammoth stand of 284 runs for the fourth wicket and bailed Pakistan out of jail. Yasir Shah, lower down the order, didn’t flatter to deceive and scored 53 off 70.