Not Virat or Babar: Mohammed Rizwan names a former cricketer as his idol in the game

Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan is considered one of the best T20I batters in the world at the moment. He is ranked second in the ICC T20I rankings and was named the "ICC T20I Player of 2021."

He has won many games for his team in his career and is the key member for Pakitan in the batting order, especially in white-ball cricket. The 30-year-old is currently part of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League 2023 and is part of the Comilla Victorians franchise.

In their latest interaction, he was asked about his idol in the game. Many would have thought that he would name someone from his own country, like Virat Kohli or even Jos Buttler. However, Rizwan said that he sees former South African superstar AB de Villiers as his idol in the game. He said, "AB de Villiers is my cricketing idol, I look up to him."

De Villiers needs no introduction to the game of cricket. He was one-of-its-kind batters that have entertained the world in his interanational and domestic career as well. His shots and batting style earned him the nickname "Mr. 360," because he was one of those few batters who could hit the ball to all parts of the ground and to every corner.

"AB de Villiers is my cricketing idol, I look up to him," Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. #BPL2023pic.twitter.com/HW9tTneelK

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) January 23, 2023

Meanwhile, Rizwan is also a consistent performer for Pakistan at the top of the order. Though his batting style is completely different from De Villiers, but he is among the top batters in the shorter format of the game in the modern era.

Rizwan hasn't performed as per his capability in the Tests and ODIs, but his numbers in Twenty20 cricket are staggering. He has played a total of 80 T20Is in his career so far and scored 2635 runs at a brilliant average of 48.79 and a decent strike rate of 126.62. The 30-year-old has also scored one century and 23 half-centuries in 20-over cricket.