In what was an embarrassing moment, Pakistan star Mohammad Rizwan was retired out mid-way through the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025/26 game between Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder on Monday. The keeper-batter was the second player to be retired out in two days’ time in the ongoing league, and it was largely to do with his slow-paced knock. As the commentators rightfully pointed out on air, Rizwan could have been retired out a couple of overs earlier, which would have given Renegade better chances of winning the contest.
Rizwan retired out mid-way through BBL game
The incident occurred in the 18th over of Renegades’ innings when the score was 154/4 and Rizwan was batting on 26 runs off 23 deliveries. The Pakistan star became the first overseas batter to be retired out in BBL as he managed to score just 2 fours and a six before he was forced to withdraw back to the dressing room. Rizwan was simply struggling to find momentum during his innings and was becoming a burden for the Renegades. MLR captain Will Sutherland replaced the keeper-batter at the crease but couldn’t do much either.
While Rizwan’s sluggish knock had already dented the prospects of Renegades reaching a high total, the team finished with 170/8 at the end of 20 overs. Rain played spoilsport in the second half of the contest, forcing the game to be cut short to 16 overs while the revised target was 140 runs. Thunder finished the run-chase in 15.2 overs and clinched a rather comfortable 4-wicket win against Melbourne.
The campaign, which marks Rizwan’s first BBL, has seen the Pakistan star struggle to score runs. in 8 games so far, he has only managed to score 167 runs with a poor strike rate of just above 100.
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