Pakistan wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan won the heart of several fans and experts after displaying an act of sportsmanship on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test against West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston in Jamaica.
It all happened when Rizwan was batting alongside Faheem Ashraf trying to build a partnership after losing his partner Babar Azam off a Kemar Roach delivery and Fawad Alam, who got retired hurt due to cramps.
Windies pacer Alzarri Joseph was bowling the 72nd over of Pakistan’s first innings, but when he was about to deliver the fourth ball, suddenly he stopped his run-up as a fly went into his eye.
Rizwan, who was at the non-strikers’ end, quickly offered his assistance to pull out the fly from Joseph’s eyes. Soon Faheem and West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite also came to help out the struggling bowler.
The gesture shown by Rizwan was appreciated by fans on social media. The official Twitter handle of West Indies cricket shared two images of the incident where Rizwan can be seen helping Joseph to pull out the fly from his eye.
“The #SpiritofCricket! (two hearts and Handshake emoji) #WIvPAK #MenInMaroon,” tweeted West Indies.
The #SpiritofCricket! ❤💚🤝🏽#WIvPAK #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/zByiHsMvHM
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) August 20, 2021
In the match, Pakistan have scored 212/4 at stumps on the opening day, with Rizwan (22) and Faheem (23) at the crease. Earlier, Babar and Fawad helped the team recover from the top-order failure. The duo added a crucial 158-run stand for the fourth wicket. While Babar got out of 75 runs, Fawad was retired hurt at 76 runs.
After the end of the day’s play, Babar revealed that they are focusing on putting 300-350 runs on the board in their first innings.
“Both of us (Babar and Fawad) decided that it was important to stay on the crease for long. I told Fawad Alam that we would have to strike a long-term partnership to steer the team out of trouble. We are eyeing to score 300 to 350 runs in the first innings,” said Babar in a video shared by Pakistan Cricket’s official Twitter handle.
