Although T20s have made cricket quite progressive and forward-thinking, there are not many more mortifying things for a batter than being asked to retire out for batting slowly. It can be considered the trade-off for playing the sport competitively and almost ruthlessly, where little care is given to how a batter might feel.
The same happened with former Pakistan T20 captain Mohammad Rizwan in the Big Bash League (BBL) on Monday (January 12). Batting for the Melbourne Renegades against Sydney Thunder at the latter’s home, the Sydney Showground Stadium, he was asked to come off the pitch for 26 (23) at the end of the 18th over.
Batting in a slightly unfamiliar position of number four, Rizwan struggled to get many boundaries off. He hit his first four on his 11th ball, followed by a six, but managed just one more boundary on the next 11 balls.
Pressure on Rizwan was slightly eased by Hassan Khan, the talented Pakistani-turned-US-national who hit a 31-ball 46. But before the start of the 19th over, Renegades skipper Will Sutherland was seen near the boundary rope, asking Rizwan to come out, and the wicketkeeper obliged.
As it happened, Sutherland got run out after just one ball and his successors, Sam Elliot and Gurinder Sandhu, couldn’t contribute much either. The Renegades managed only 16 runs off the last two overs, finishing at 170/8. As Rizwan wasn’t injured, the scorecard showed ‘Retired-Out’ beside his name.
