Pakistan’s batting consultant Matthew Hayden has hailed the fighting spirit of Mohammad Rizwan, who was battling a severe lung infection for two days ahead of the semi-final against Australia.
He was in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Dubai before the important game of the ICC T20 World Cup.
The right-handed batter made a quick recovery and scored a valuable 67 runs against the Aaron Finch-led team.
His innings almost won the game for the Men in Green before the onslaught by Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis sealed the deal in Australia’s favour.
“Obviously, there’s a conflict of interests, my heart is all for Australia. But this was a fantastic opportunity with Pakistan, big fan of this batting line-up, have performed superbly right through with the bat all along and tonight is no exception. Rizwan was in the hospital a night ago, suffering from a bronchitis condition, but this is a warrior, a quiet start to tonight’s campaign, but he has great courage, so has Babar, fantastic to see them combine so well,” Hayden said.
He was only released on the morning of Thursday’s semi-final. “Mohammad Rizwan developed a severe chest infection on 9th of November after which he was admitted to the hospital,” Pakistan’s team doctor Najeebullah Soomro said.
“He spent two nights in the ICU recovering. He made an incredible recovery and was deemed fit before the match.
“We can see his great determination and tenacity that shows his spirit of performing for the country. And we can see how he performed today.”