It was a day that belonged to Mohammad Rizwan and Pakistan as the Men in Green made it two in two in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup. Coming in at 37/2, Rizwan forged a massive 176-run partnership with opener Abdullah Shafique as the duo calculated a huge run-chase of 345 runs to perfection. Both Shafique and Rizwan smashed centuries as Pakistan ended up breaking a 12-year-old record of Ireland of pulling off the highest run-chase in World Cup history.
However, it wasn't easy out there for the players out there in the humid weather in Hyderabad, especially Rizwan, who seemed to have pulled some muscle and battled cramps to remain unbeaten on 131. Rizwan first experienced pain when he was in his eighties as he took some painkillers and treatment from physio to keep going. However, it didn't work for long as he hit a six off Dhananjaya de Silva in the 37th over and was down on the ground as it seemed as if he did his calf there. But he fought along.
When he went down soon after hitting the six, the commentators were all in splits and Simon Doull even remarked "Someone get him in the movies." The fans wondered why commentators were laughing when Rizwan clearly looked in pain.
In the next over, an inside edge hit his right leg and he was again hobbling. He kept doing it for some time as he even limped while running before he got to his century. However, after a couple of overs, he automatically got normal and took Pakistan to a huge victory. Asked after the match about his cramps, Rizwan himself admitted that all of it was not real and some of it was performance too.
"Sometimes it's cramps and sometimes I acting (chuckles)," Rizwan said as the video of his hilarious admission went viral.
Rizwan's 131* is the highest score by a Pakistan wicketkeeper in ODIs and a much-needed one for his side after they let Sri Lanka get away from them. Pakistan are now level on points with New Zealand with two wins in as many matches and will now hope to keep the momentum going when they face India in a few days' time.
