‘We are humans, not machines’

Pakistan batter Mohmmad Rizwan's ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) stint with Comilla Victorians has not gotten off to the best of starts. 

Rizwan's four innings have produced just 64 runs at an average of 21.33 and a strike rate of just above 85. Even as Comilla find themselves in the top four with three wins, questions have been raised over the form of Pakistan opener and his opening partner Liton Das.

"Yes, I am a human being, I am not a machine," said Rizwan yesterday as he went on to acknowledge that his form with the willow has not been up to expectations. "I am trying to do my best for the team but I am happy with the results the team has gotten. About my performance, it's not been what I want or according to people's expectation."

Rizwan averaged just over 50 in the last edition. Like Rizwan, his opening partner Liton is also experiencing a dull campaign so far.
Liton's average this BPL in five innings is just 7.4 and the right-hander has been struggling to get going since recently scoring 41 to take Bangladesh over the ropes in the third T20I in Napier against New Zealand in December last year.

Both Rizwan and Liton were amongst the top run-getters in the tournament last season, scoring 351 and 379 runs, respectively. However, a 26-run stand has been the highest for the duo in this BPL.

"This is a question [regarding players' performance] for the franchise. But we are not machines; we are human beings. I have seen Liton Das working too hard and still trying to get that momentum. He's a sound player but sometimes the way he's getting out is unlucky. But he's working hard and hopefully, he will perform in the next match," Rizwan said about Liton.

He also felt that BPL could improve further in order to be compared to other franchise leagues but stated that conditions do pose challenges in this regard.

"Honestly speaking, BPL needs to climb a few steps to be compared with other leagues. Everywhere in the world, there are different conditions and BPL has Asian conditions. It's different as conditions in Bangladesh are different. But of course, improvements can be made," he concluded.