T20 World Cup: Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan spent the night before the semi-final against Australia in hospital because of illness

There were question marks surrounding flamboyant opening batter Mohammad Rizwan's availability against Australia but he was eventually given the green-light in this high-voltage semi-final fixture in the T20 World Cup.

Rizwan struggled in the first few deliveries and looked like a sitting duck against the pace of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. He would've been dismissed for a duck but David Warner ended up dropping a difficult catch.

Following captain Babar Azam's dismissal, the wicket-keeper batter took charge of the innings and formed a solid partnership with Fakhar Zaman. He ended up scoring 67 off 52 deliveries. His innings included three fours and four sixes. With this knock, Rizwan now occupies the second position in the run-scorers' tally with 281 runs to his name in the T20 World Cup. Only his captain and opening partner Babar Azam is ahead of him.

Rizwan, who became the first player to score 1000 T20I runs in a calendar year, had apparently spent the previous night in a hospital. Following the game, which ended in a disappointing and heart-breaking loss for Pakistan, Matthew Hayden praised Rizwan's fine performance and also shed light on the setback he had overcome.

"Rizwan, you probably didn't know was actually in hospital just a night ago suffering from some sort of lung condition. This is a warrior," Hayden said.

"He has been brilliant through it (the campaign) and he's got great courage, as has Babar. Fantastic tonight from him."

The Pakistan team doctor further revealed that the wicket-keeper batter had spent the previous two nights in the ICU due to a chest infection. This news was kept within the team and he only got a late fitness pass before the game today.

Fans took to social media to criticize the decision to allow him back on the pitch in a high-pressure game and called it very irresponsible.