UAE’s Rizwan, who had recently hit a century against Ireland, narrates the joy he experienced after his spell of four wickets in four balls

 By K.R. Nayar

UAE allrounder CP Rizwan had once bagged four wickets in four balls in one of UAE’s domestic A Division tournament final like Ireland’s Curtis Campher did against Netherlands on Monday. He talks about the thrill and joy he experienced after such a special feat. Incidentally, Rizwan had played against Campher in January and had even cracked a century at the same venue  

CP Rizwan with Rashid Khan, who has also bagged four wickets in four balls 

UAE allrounder CP Rizwan knows the joy of taking four wickets in four balls. He had hit a century in January 2021 while playing against Ireland. Incidentally, Curtis Campher was in that Ireland team as well.

“Taking four wickets in four balls is a feeling that is hard to explain. I had done it in the Mulk Holding T20 Cup in 2016 while playing for the Bukhatir XI against Multiplex International at the Ajman Cricket ground. So I can very well understand Campher’s joy when he did it against Netherlands and that too in a World Cup match,” said Rizwan, who bowls leg spin.

Gulf News report on Rizwan's spell of four wickets in four balls in 2016

“I felt really good when I heard about Campher’s achievement in this T20 World Cup. It felt even better since we had played against each other in the One Day International in January this year in which I got a century, and I had also played him in the T20 series,” he added.

Rizwan became the first Kerala cricketer to hit a century in international cricket when he did it against Ireland. Hailing from Tellichery in Kerala, which is considered as the birth place of cricket in India, his home town celebrated his century against Ireland in a big way. Rizwan has also faced Rashid Khan of Afghanistan who too has taken four wickets in four balls in a T20 International.

The city of Tellicherry celebrates Rizwan's century against Ireland 

Incidentally, there has been an instance of a bowler named Aled Carey who took six wickets in six balls while playing club cricket in Australia in 2017. He was playing for the Golden Point team against East Ballart in a Ballarat Cricket Association fourth-team fixture. He got his first wicket caught at slip, the second one was caught-behind, followed by a lbw, and the remaining three were clean bowled.