Last Updated on 4 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Muhammad Rizwan is currently one of the most popular players from Pakistan. His presence in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) has resulted in a massive boost in the viewership and fan following for the league.
Whenever the Melbourne Renegades have played this season, fans have come in large numbers to see him bat. It was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where Rizwan scored a 38-ball 41 in the second innings during the Will Sutherland-led side’s thrilling win against the Melbourne Stars. The MCG was filled with fans of the Pakistani superstar and thus, he had even come out after the game to sign autographs and click selfies.
During an exclusive interview with Arvind Kalyana Krishnan for CricBlog after the aformentioned match at the MCG, Muhammad Rizwan acknowledged the love he has received in Australia and expressed gratitude towards his fans. Further on, he spoke about playing against his Pakistani teammates like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf in the BBL.
Rizwan then jokingly spoke about Travis Head’s exploits in the longest format of the game. When asked about the evolution of T20 cricket, he stated that Travis Head’s performances in Tests have been more explosive than T20 cricket. As for Rizwan, he’s yet to unleash his best in the BBL 2025-26 and thus, his fans would hope that he gets back to the groove soon.
Muhammad Rizwan interview: Support from Pakistan fans is fantastic
Below is the text and video versions of the interview between Arvind Kalyana Krishnan and Muhammad Rizwan for CricBlog:
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: You have so many fans in Australia and you’re receiving so much of love from them. So how do you feel while playing in the BBL?
Muhammad Rizwan: See, if we talk about fans then with God’s grace there’s a lot of them outside Australia too! We get love from everywhere and may God always keep them happy. They’re a lot over here too, I mean, if you talk about Melbourne, then you can see that there were almost 70,000 crowd during the game (Melbourne derby). Among them if you see they’ll be many people from Pakistan. Even behind you you can see fans (points towards the crowd) and even on my side you can see fans. I mean, thanks to God we have always received love from them and may God always keep them happy.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Now in the BBL there are so many players from Pakistan playing like Babar Azam and Shaheen…..So when you play against them during the match, or even after the match, do you tell them anything like “See, today my team’s gonna beat your team” or anything like that?
Muhammad Rizwan: No no, no such conversations take place. Because they’ve come here to perform, I’ve come here to perform, so what matters is how you have to play according to the given situation on that day. In the opposition if it’s Shaheen or Bobsy (Babar) so we know what to expect. Like for example, it was now Haris Rauf, so I know his tricks and he knows mine, so he must have discussed it with his team and even I might have discussed it with my team…..So these things happen but going to someone and telling them that we’ll do this and that, such banters and all we don’t have it here. It might happen elsewhere but not with us.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: T20s have now become more difficult. It’s now become fast. So do you think that T20s have now changed?
Muhammad Rizwan: Now with the way Travis Head is playing Test matches, if you see, he’s playing it faster than T20s… What are you going to do about that? (laughs).
