"I will be a different bowler when I come back to the Pakistan side" : Wahab Riaz

[Kroll]

Wahab Riaz speaking on TV:

"I had this sinus issue for the past 10-12 years and this is making me struggle to keep fit"

"I have done the surgery now in the time I had off and I am feeling much better now; I had to rest for 2-3 weeks"

"As you can tell from voice there is a noticeable change [due to the surgery]"

"My task now is to make a comeback to international cricket and to represent Pakistan"

"I am now looking forward to the next series and working towards it to make my mark on it"

"I will be playing for Derbyshire this year and my commitment to them starts from 2nd July"

"My aim is to try and be selected for the Tri-Series in Zimbabwe; if that does not happen, I will fly to the UK to play for Derbyshire"

"The whole thing is about fitness and I would like to play for Pakistan in all 3 formats of the game"

"Obviously I did not do well in the Champions Trophy and I only played one Test match for Pakistan after that"

"I know a lot of people were unhappy with me about my performances as I have been working very hard for the past year"

"So as you saw in the PSL, there was a hunger inside me to restore my status [in the Pakistan team]"

"When I come back into the team, God Willing, I will be a different bowler"

 

[MenInG]

If sinuses were holding him back before then I expect major improvement in his bowling now.

 

[Pete Rose]

What’s he gonna do to get back in the team. Other than Derbyshire.

 

[Savak]

Didn't deserve to get dropped. There needs to be some check on Mickey Arthur's powers and ego. The fact that Rahat was chosen ahead of Wahab should be a big enough redflag. Also it is bizzare as to how Imran Khan's career has been terminated by Mickey Arthur given that he had the best average out of all the pacers.

 

[hur rizvi]

I agree with him getting dropped in LOIs
But a bowler of his pace should always be in test squad

 

[JaDed]

[MENTION=139867]dauntless[/MENTION] incase you miss your hero's thread.

 

[New Yorker]

Didn't deserve to get dropped. There needs to be some check on Mickey Arthur's powers and ego. The fact that Rahat was chosen ahead of Wahab should be a big enough redflag. Also it is bizzare as to how Imran Khan's career has been terminated by Mickey Arthur given that he had the best average out of all the pacers.

Certainly true re Imran. Hard to see why he couldn't do better in England than in the UAE, where has has been outstanding. Whatever happened to him anyway? How has he been in domestics since?

 

[hadi123]

Sinuses? What has that got to do with his bowling?


As for him being dropped, he doesn't belong in ODI's and T20I's, he is a liability as he bowls the odd awful ball and has a bad habit of wides and no balls, if there's format he should be considered in it's tests. I felt pretty neutral about him not being selected for this England tour.

 

[Monsee]

"When I come back into the team, God Willing, I will be a different bowler"

What's the plan, is he thinking about changing his name or something

Seriously, all he has to is work on his wrist position and shape of the seam when it lands, but that is exactly what he has not improved ever since he started playing for Pakistan. His gun barrell straight style of 'Phaast' bowling does not surprise most batsmen these days, so he has to develop better skills!

 

[sshakir411]

He always sounded like he had some breathing issue....it was very obvious during interviews. Hope this solves his issue.

 

[moghul]

Should have been kept in tests.
Also, I'm glad he is not blaming anyone else but his own lack of performance. Always a very sensible person and one with positive aptitude.

 

[PakSarZameen]

The reason he doesn't bowl well consistently is because it takes a lot out of him to pitch the ball up

He admitted this on TV

Having said that he is a must have in Tests

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Only allowed back into the team if he ditches his mustache celebration.

 

[dauntless]

[MENTION=139867]dauntless[/MENTION] incase you miss your hero's thread.

Hero or not. He is a proper fast bowler who can bowl 145ks consistently in tests. He has performed excellently in all the domestic tournaments he played.pak management made a blunder by dropping him in the tests. He is a deserving candidate. For me he is a representative of our community along with amir. Shoaib akhtar was one too. I m proud of him.

 

[Asch Ali]

Wahab Riaz certainly has a way better attitude than Rahat Ali whilst bowling. We need players like Wahab Riaz.

Fierce pace! Very threatening! Every team is scared of him!

While Rahat isn’t seen to be a fierce dangerous bowler. He is like Ishant Sharma to the opposing team.

 

[Mueez]

Wahab Riaz certainly has a way better attitude than Rahat Ali whilst bowling. We need players like Wahab Riaz.

Fierce pace! Very threatening! Every team is scared of him!

While Rahat isn’t seen to be a fierce dangerous bowler. He is like Ishant Sharma to the opposing team.

I would have to agree with this, seeing Rahat Ali bowl in the last match was just so painful for the eyes.
With Wahab in your test side, you will have a chance that he gets reverse swing with his pace, which means he can get wickets on a 'dead' pitch.

 

[Usman]

Should have been kept in tests.
Also, I'm glad he is not blaming anyone else but his own lack of performance. Always a very sensible person and one with positive aptitude.

This is why I was angry to read Mickey Arthur's comments on dropping Wahab. We all know Wahab is someone who tries his best and yes, it doesn't always come off but you cannot question his attitude and commitment to the team. Mickey however decided to hurl insults at Wahab to justify dropping him. Whilst that may be justified to some extent when you're dealing with people like Umar Akmal, it certainly is no way to treat a good guy like Wahab. That's especially the case when the sentiment behind the insults isn't even true - for example singling out Wahab's apparent poor record in tests when his record is actually better than any other Pakistani fast bowler.

Mickey's defenders will say that he was dishing out tough love. To me, it sounded really quite wrong, almost bullying.

 

[mirza105]

yeah we know that
you will become even bigger matchwinner for opposition

 

[Khan12]

Yes by becoming even a bigger spray gun. I hope we never pick him again.

 

[New Yorker]

I would have to agree with this, seeing Rahat Ali bowl in the last match was just so painful for the eyes.
With Wahab in your test side, you will have a chance that he gets reverse swing with his pace, which means he can get wickets on a 'dead' pitch.

Abbas also gets reverse. The problem with Wahab, as we saw in England, is that he reversed it miles without getting wickets. He's a half trick pony and you don't select half trick ponies. Having said that, he would still be miles better than Rahat. The problem is that the selectors need to look past both of these very flawed players.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Been there, done that - nothing will change.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

"I am a different bowler now after that Watson spell"

Few years later....

"I am a different bowler now after my nose op".

 

[Syed1]

In Pakistan every oldie thinks they can make a comeback. You can't blame them for their optimism after all Inzi is our selector.

 

[ArsenalFC]

I feel Wahab with his sinus problems but if this was what was holding him back why wasn't this op arranged for him years ago.

 

[sjahmed23]

How come he didn't get this surgery before?

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Wahab - we would like you to be a better bowler before you come to the Pakistan side.

 

[Abid Z]

You can only have one of wahab or rahat in the squad and very reluctantly I would choose wahab. If he can demonstrate the ability to bring the ball back into a right hander he would be lethal. Now that he’s had some sudafed perhaps he will be able to.

 

[Slim]

He is a very average bowler and below average at times. Has no place in the LOI team. Maybe can find a place in the test squad and thats where it stops.

 

[Imy]

Well god to know his sinus issues is resolved. I had the issue and it does effect you in terms of of how much sleep one gets and while doing cardio. I always felt tired. Once it’s resolved it’s life changing as you can breathe normally and also get a full night sleep as you don’t constantly wake up after every hour.

 

[Kashmiri_Pak_fan]

Can anyone post video of this interview pls?

 

[Hasan123]

He shouldn't be playing the tri series against Zimbabwe. He's had his time. I wouldn't recall him for LO. For tests in the UAE I'm not against selecting him.

 

[pasha404]

A new bowler ,is he starting to bowl leg break or off break

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wahab Riaz wearing a shirt with his father's name on it. His father sadly passed away a couple of years ago <a href="https://t.co/ZIGpbZ5hkP">pic.twitter.com/ZIGpbZ5hkP</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1107340103079337988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

He should definitely be in the team.he is way better than usman mediocre shinwari and junaid trundler khan

 

[IAJ]

The way he has been bowling here he should be in the WC squad. Deserves it.

 

[MenInG]

So is this the end of Wahab Riaz? Seems whatever he does is not enough for Pakistan think-tank

 

[Chokli]

So is this the end of Wahab Riaz? Seems whatever he does is not enough for Pakistan think-tank

34 years of age, yep.

He had his chances in between 2011 and 2015 World Cups to solidify his place but other than World Cups he always went missing and created bowling records for the opposition.

 

[PakLFC]

His career is over now. Was never really a fan of his at all other then that one spell against Australia during a previous World Cup. Was too expensive always bowling way to short. Like Umar Gul international Cricket is over for him now. Good luck to the two lads.

 

[Kroll]

He had his day back in the 2011 WC semi-final, and if it wasn't for the mediocre batting performance, would have gone down as a hero in Pakistan folklore history. Was let down in 2015 as well by the woeful fielding but his time is over in the ODI format.

 

[Mueez]

Made his words count.

 

[Abdullah719]

Don't see him playing in the 2023 World Cup so not sure why he is playing ODIs.

 

[Kroll]

Don't see him playing in the 2023 World Cup so not sure why he is playing ODIs.

These considerations don't matter when we know who loves selecting oldies and TTF's.

 

[ssuhaide]

Only the unprofessional PCB organization would not have to foresight to think long term. Anyone who isn't really in the reckoning for the playing in the World Cup in 4 years time should really not be in the team now. So Wahab and Sarfraz should really not be playing ODI's anymore. But this is the PCB we are talking about so expect those two to still be hanging around come 2023.

 

[coy0607]

Wahab's stat in the last 3 years:

Matches -- Wickets -- Average -- Economy
2016-- 8 -- 7 -- 58 -- 5.9
2017-- 4 -- 2 -- 130 -- 7.7
2019-- 10 -- 13 -- 39 -- 5.9


Wahab is a trash bowler, and Misbah is a trash selector

 

[Danyaalr01]

One of the biggest embarrasments to Pak cricket. His stats are that of a Sri Lankan fast bowler. A classic example of a couple of good perfomances in an ocean of poor performances. Almost singlehandedly lost the game for Pak today.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Don't see him playing in the 2023 World Cup so not sure why he is playing ODIs.

Quite.

He’ll be 37/38 by the time of the next WC so what’s the point of selecting him right now? Would be much better to pick a youngster.

Can understand, somewhat, when a really experienced/skilled player is selected at this age as they can pass on tips and mentor other bowlers but Wahab doesn’t really fall into this category.

 

[Mamoon]

He did an “ehsan” on Pakistan cricket by sacrificing his glorious Test career, and now he feels entitled for selection in Limited Overs.

Those lucky wickets against England and that fluke cameo against Afghanistan proved to be very costly. The World Cup should have been the end of his forgettable international career.

 

[Sher Khan]

A 38 year old wahab has no chance of playing the 2023 wc. Even if he does i dont see him retaining high speeds- which in essence are his only special quality.

Dont understand the logic of him playing odis. Hasnain or rauf should have been tried in this series.

 

[Titan24]

Wahab needs to move on from ODIs too atleast.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Been there, done that - nothing will change.

Said so over a year ago and now he is just milking it as much as he can.