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Wahab Riaz is going to surprise everyone in the 2019 World Cup

Badsha

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I see a lot of criticism towards his selection but I'm making this thread to predict wahab riaz will play a key role on our success this world cup.

His inswinging Yorkers and bouncers can be devastating. Everyone is going for runs anyway so his weakness has been nullified. Batsmen will think twice hitting him out of the park.

Proper Express pace and and an aggressive attitude.
 
I don’t know why but my gut says it too...

Let’s hope for the best!

#WeHaveWeWill
 
Didn't he forget his run up a few years ago? Just hope he doesn't do that again. Mickey will send his home on the next flight.
 
For some reason I feel he is an completely changed bowler after that champions trophy 2017 and its best Pakistan make use of his abilities to win the world cup.
 
I;m sure Wahab will be the best Pakistani bowler in this WC. He was very good in 2011 and 2015 WC, will be even better in his last one. Will be a handy lower order batsman also.
 
Some people just enjoy talking and spreading negativity, its a personality trait/disorder.
 
If Wahab had played this England series, he would have gone for more then 100 runs thrice just like his bowling record in England suggests and then we would have been making threads like "Fly Junaid to England thread" :facepalm:

That's how knee jerk selection policy of Inzamam works.
 
I think he will have good games and bad games, but wouldn't surprise me if he turns out to be the best pace bowler on show for Pakistan. He can be awful at times, but he can also take wickets in the middle overs and take wickets in the death overs which could be crucial.

Plus he's not a wilting flower like Junaid, good or bad he'll bring the fire.
 
Wahab may bowl like 15 q finals but does pak have the fielding to capitalise on it?
 
If he does, that's also a slap on the face of the management. And shows everyone that a tukka approach is used to manage the sport in the country.
 
This is one of the worst selections in the history of worst selection. One of the few bowlers who can single handedly lose the game for his team in a matter of couple overs.
 
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Well for the team i hope so but i dont have much faith Ive seen too much of the spray gun wahab to know hes been more empty huff and puff than any real pace n fire
 
Not sure what kind of form he is at now but reading some of the comments makes me feel like he will score couple of centuries ... With the ball.
 
Well he was bowling 150kph at PSL with reverse swing and looked in form of his life. I hope he does surprise us and trouble opposition lot.
 
You can have many issues with Wahab but his passion and energy are unquestionable . . if he can replicate the kind of pace at display in the PSL and Pakistan cup, he would be a handful . . I remember in the last world cup, he was far and away Pak's best bowler . . also the below stats are telling . . Let's wish him the best!

Wahab in ODI World Cup
Matches: 12 - Wickets: 24 - Ave: 21.91 - Eco: 5.26

Other than World Cup
Matches: 67 - Wickets: 78 - Ave: 38.16 - Eco: 5.77
 
Yes, Wahab will surprise us with his <b>average of 96.25 and economy of 6.67 in England</b>.
 
This is not but Short term memory problem of Pakistani fans and selectors.
 
Big test is whether he has learnt to use his brain/hold his nerve. One thing I have noticed is if he gets hit for a boundary, it's almost guaranteed he will be hit for another in the same over (very often the next ball).
 
Big test is whether he has learnt to use his brain/hold his nerve. One thing I have noticed is if he gets hit for a boundary, it's almost guaranteed he will be hit for another in the same over (very often the next ball).

That did not seemed to be the case in the psl and pakistan cup.
 
I see a lot of criticism towards his selection but I'm making this thread to predict wahab riaz will play a key role on our success this world cup.

His inswinging Yorkers and bouncers can be devastating. Everyone is going for runs anyway so his weakness has been nullified. Batsmen will think twice hitting him out of the park.

Proper Express pace and and an aggressive attitude.

When did he nail his yorker for PAK in a big match?

All he does is bowl short/ back of a HIT ME line.
 
no reason to be optimistic tbh, but hope he proves everyone wrong. would have preferred shinwari if the logic was we want someone who can bang it in or reverse it.
 
no reason to be optimistic tbh, but hope he proves everyone wrong. would have preferred shinwari if the logic was we want someone who can bang it in or reverse it.

Shinwari has been poor with his yorkers at the death, Wahab is mainly selected because of his ability to bowl yorkers at the death and he was doing that pretty well in PSL and bowled decently even in Pakistan Cup which was pretty high scoring.
 
Players improve and deteriorate all the time, he was out of the team for two years why cant we assume that he might have improved some aspects of his bowling in those two years especially after seeing his performances in PSL and Pakistan cup.
 
Shinwari has been poor with his yorkers at the death, Wahab is mainly selected because of his ability to bowl yorkers at the death and he was doing that pretty well in PSL and bowled decently even in Pakistan Cup which was pretty high scoring.

I am aware, but wahab has a longer failing international record that shinwari. In any case these are nothing players (wahab, malik, and hafeez) so my bias would always be to put someone younger. I dont dispute inzi's logic, but have low faith that wahab will be able to replicate PSL in consistently in big international games under pressure.
 
I am aware, but wahab has a longer failing international record that shinwari. In any case these are nothing players (wahab, malik, and hafeez) so my bias would always be to put someone younger. I dont dispute inzi's logic, but have low faith that wahab will be able to replicate PSL in consistently in big international games under pressure.

Secondly, he is probably 34-35, I don't think a bowler can change habits at this age. Haven't seen a single example in cricket history someone improving at twilight of a bowling career.
 
If we wanted a death bowler, i would have took Haris Rauf over "experienced" Wahab.
 
Shinwari is the biggest match loser in Pak cricket history. Wahab is way behind him in this regard hence a good selection.
 
If we wanted a death bowler, i would have took Haris Rauf over "experienced" Wahab.

Same here and not only because of his yorkers but a lot of other skills he could have provided.

However, that decision would have needed a lot of guts especially when we already have Shaheen and Hasnaian in the squad who dont have much experience.
 
No he's not. He is well past it spray gun. This selection is nepotism at its finest. The system is still broken.
 
Same here and not only because of his yorkers but a lot of other skills he could have provided.

However, that decision would have needed a lot of guts especially when we already have Shaheen and Hasnaian in the squad who dont have much experience.

Thats true. Ideally, Rauf should have been in squads beforehand. Who knows maybe WC will fire up Wahab and hopefully he surprises everyone.
 
If we wanted a death bowler, i would have took Haris Rauf over "experienced" Wahab.

Same here and not only because of his yorkers but a lot of other skills he could have provided.

However, that decision would have needed a lot of guts especially when we already have Shaheen and Hasnaian in the squad who dont have much experience.

Add Hasan to that list who has only been with the team for about 34 months and has been mediocre for at least 12 of those.

How do you expect to win a World Cup with Hasan, Shaheen and Hasnain?
 
The damage was done in last 2 years - they invested it behind Faheem, partially Shinwari & JK. Now, all 3 are dropped, therefore hardly any other options left beyond Wahab. Fortunately, Wahab had a great PSL (In BPL also he was good), which suggests he might do better in UK than his past, at least we can hope so. My hunch is even without PSL, still Wahab would have been taken, because there is no other options left!!!!

It could have been done better had they picked both Wahab & Rauf to UAE and pick at least one of them to UK. Now, it looks a knee jerk reaction, but probably only option left for IuH. All that criticism against him that he doesn’t bother much about home work or look beyond PSL actually is proven just from this one situation- add Yasir in it, guy should have been sacked long back.
 
Can you recall any game after the CT 2017 that our bowling didn't lose?

The game in SA when the bowling dismissed SA for less than 200.

Besides, who is supporting the bowling? The bowling has been horrendous but putting hope on Wahab is just setting yourself up for disappointment.
 
The game in SA when the bowling dismissed SA for less than 200.

Besides, who is supporting the bowling? The bowling has been horrendous but putting hope on Wahab is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

So 1 game in 2 years? Nice.

The bowler that caused them to fall for 160 odd isn't even in the squad and instead of Usman Shinwari we have a newbie who has never played List A or First Class cricket and was selected solely on his ability to bowl 150kph which he hasn't done.
 
So 1 game in 2 years? Nice.

The bowler that caused them to fall for 160 odd isn't even in the squad and instead of Usman Shinwari we have a newbie who has never played List A or First Class cricket and was selected solely on his ability to bowl 150kph which he hasn't done.

I am not sure what are you trying to imply. Everyone and his dog knows that Pakistani bowling has been easily the worst in the world excluding non-minnow teams. Even BD and WI have done a better job than Pakistan.
 
I am not sure what are you trying to imply. Everyone and his dog knows that Pakistani bowling has been easily the worst in the world excluding non-minnow teams. Even BD and WI have done a better job than Pakistan.

Point is our bowling can't do worse then it already has.

Hasan
Shaheen
Hasnain

You have three bowlers that are extremely inexperienced.

And then you have Amir who is unfit.

Our team absolutely needs someone experienced and since Junaid was trash in the UAE and in England, the only option was Wahab who makes the team on merit because of his recent performances.
 
Point is our bowling can't do worse then it already has.

Hasan
Shaheen
Hasnain

You have three bowlers that are extremely inexperienced.

And then you have Amir who is unfit.

Our team absolutely needs someone experienced and since Junaid was trash in the UAE and in England, the only option was Wahab who makes the team on merit because of his recent performances.

With Wahab the bowling can actually do worse than what it has been doing. Wahab has gone over 10 runs per over multiple times on these batting belters. Wahab is as bad as Junaid. This is not 80s that batsmen are scared of fast bowlers. On flat tracks, gun spray bowlers like Wahab will go for plenty. In his own words, Mickey called out Wahab for not winning a single match in 2 years. He was not even on the radar of selectors that is why he was not selected for the UAE series with Australia. Now all of a sudden, he's back on the team.

Please do not bring up PSL and Pakistan cup. Both have been low quality tournaments and I will take the performance in them with a grain of salt.

Ideally, instead of selecting Wahab, a full time spinner should have been selected. If Inzy wanted to pick a pacer then Shinwari should have made it on merit.
 
With Wahab the bowling can actually do worse than what it has been doing. Wahab has gone over 10 runs per over multiple times on these batting belters. Wahab is as bad as Junaid. This is not 80s that batsmen are scared of fast bowlers. On flat tracks, gun spray bowlers like Wahab will go for plenty. In his own words, Mickey called out Wahab for not winning a single match in 2 years. He was not even on the radar of selectors that is why he was not selected for the UAE series with Australia. Now all of a sudden, he's back on the team.

Please do not bring up PSL and Pakistan cup. Both have been low quality tournaments and I will take the performance in them with a grain of salt.

Ideally, instead of selecting Wahab, a full time spinner should have been selected. If Inzy wanted to pick a pacer then Shinwari should have made it on merit.

Shinwari deserved to go ahead of Hasnain
 
He will surprise us by being worse than we originally thought.



I cannot support players who use connections and lobbying to snake their way into the side. Wahab is one guy who I will be actively hoping to get thoroughly embarrassed at the WC.
 
Shinwari is the biggest match loser in Pak cricket history. Wahab is way behind him in this regard hence a good selection.

Although I like Wahab's selection don't make false claims. Out of all current bowlers Shinwari was the only match winner. His record speaks for itself and his man of match awards
 
Many people writing negatives about Wahab will quite down after his first game in WC.
 
He will surprise us by being worse than we originally thought.



I cannot support players who use connections and lobbying to snake their way into the side. Wahab is one guy who I will be actively hoping to get thoroughly embarrassed at the WC.


You think everyone has connections?
 
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Well the one good thing about Wahab is that he is a good hitter at 8/9.

Secondly the team management dont need him to bowl his full quota of 10 overs if he is going for plenty.

All in all a risk worth taking.
 
Well the one good thing about Wahab is that he is a good hitter at 8/9.

Secondly the team management dont need him to bowl his full quota of 10 overs if he is going for plenty.

All in all a risk worth taking.

So who will complete his overs if he gets smashed for 50 off 5?
 
The damage was done in last 2 years - they invested it behind Faheem, partially Shinwari & JK. Now, all 3 are dropped, therefore hardly any other options left beyond Wahab. Fortunately, Wahab had a great PSL (In BPL also he was good), which suggests he might do better in UK than his past, at least we can hope so. My hunch is even without PSL, still Wahab would have been taken, because there is no other options left!!!!

It could have been done better had they picked both Wahab & Rauf to UAE and pick at least one of them to UK. Now, it looks a knee jerk reaction, but probably only option left for IuH. All that criticism against him that he doesn’t bother much about home work or look beyond PSL actually is proven just from this one situation- add Yasir in it, guy should have been sacked long back.

I dont understand your narrow single minded focus on Inzamam all the time. You keep forgetting that there is Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz in the mix as well. Mickey Arthur did not want Wahab in the team in the last 2 years and Inzi obliged, now it appears Sarfaraz and Inzi have put their foot down on Mickey Arthur.

Can pin point many other examples as well where Inzi has selected players in the squad only for Arthur to not play them. And don't bring Inzi's captaincy or history as a player into it.

Inzi is carrying on the mantra that he came with from the beginning that as a captain i always strongly insisted on selecting the playing 11 and squad of 15 as i was answerable to the nation and i will carry on the same approach with the captain coach i.e. giving them the players that they want and evidence shows that he has done exactly that.
 
Wahab's special surprise - overstep every in match and set a WC record with the most free-hits.

You heard it here first.
 
I dont understand your narrow single minded focus on Inzamam all the time. You keep forgetting that there is Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz in the mix as well. Mickey Arthur did not want Wahab in the team in the last 2 years and Inzi obliged, now it appears Sarfaraz and Inzi have put their foot down on Mickey Arthur.
t.

Actually it was sarfraz who asked for Wahab and Inzi supported him, Mickey is still against having Wahab in place of Fahim and he still see value in Faheem for the WC.Mickey still think that Faheem will magically become Lance Klusener one day.
 
He should not be an automatic choice. May be give him a chance against lesser teams like Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
 
Yes he will surprise us by bettering his world record for the most runs conceded by a bowler in a odi
 
Wahab is the most pathetic Pakistani bowler i have seen after Sami. Jacketman should not be near our cricket team. I expect him bowling some no-balls if he plays. :)
 
Wow. Where did his selection come from? I haven't seen him near the team in ages.

Curve ball.
 
He will surprise us by being worse than we originally thought.


I cannot support players who use connections and lobbying to snake their way into the side. Wahab is one guy who I will be actively hoping to get thoroughly embarrassed at the WC.

Not everyone you dislike is in the team due to connections. :))
 
yes with scoring more hundreds than batsmen
Wahab is the only bowler we have who can bowl 90 mph bouncers at batsmen heads and 90mph yorkers at their toes.
Exactly what will be required on these dead pitchs in the wc. Wahab will do well, i think, good selection, but should have been in the england series to evaluate his selection fairly.
 
Wahab is the only bowler we have who can bowl 90 mph bouncers at batsmen heads and 90mph yorkers at their toes.
Exactly what will be required on these dead pitchs in the wc. Wahab will do well, i think, good selection, but should have been in the england series to evaluate his selection fairly.

He hardly lands his yorkers in INT cricket.
 
He is the X factor that was nissing. Good luck Pakistan. Give us a World Cup we will never forget.
 
Still remember his stunning spell against us in the 2011 WC. It was the spell of that WC according to Sachin. I’ll agree with him. His delivery to knock off Yuvraj’s stumps off the first delivery is still so vivid to me.
 
Not sure of what to expect of Wahab, but the one thing that gives me hope is that he tends to peak during World Cup years. Just look at his figures, he was beyond horrible from 2012-2014, and 2010 was pretty bad for him too. I remember, in the leadup to the 2015 World Cup, most people were questioning his selection.

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If 2011/2015 Wahab turns up to the World Cup, then it will be a huge boost for Pakistan. Otherwise, I really would not have picked him based on recent performance. Usman Shinwari has the recent performances to warrant a spot, but sadly missed out.

Now Wahab is picked, I hope for the sake of Pakistan that he delivers the goods.
 
Wahab's inclusion does not solve Pakistan's most pressing problem. It doesn't address our inability to take wickets up front and disrupt a cricket match. If the likes of Bairstow and Roy are allowed to play with impunity in the first power play, Wahab Riaz will go for big runs.

I am not against the inclusion of Wahab Riaz. I actually think Wahab and Shinwari should be in the squad and that the inclusion of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain is unnecessary. Neither bowler has done enough to justify being in the team.
 
He surely can't do any worse than when he played in the 2017 CT. My expectations from this brainless bowler are low. But with Riaz, we do know that IF he is at his best, he can turn up and be lethal, but at his worst, it can be absolutely painful. One of those cases of "When he's good, he's really good but when he's bad, he's really bad"
 
I don't think he will get a game and if he does then our bowlers would have got a phainty and no chance of winning it.
 
Wahab's inclusion does not solve Pakistan's most pressing problem. It doesn't address our inability to take wickets up front and disrupt a cricket match. If the likes of Bairstow and Roy are allowed to play with impunity in the first power play, Wahab Riaz will go for big runs.

I am not against the inclusion of Wahab Riaz. I actually think Wahab and Shinwari should be in the squad and that the inclusion of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain is unnecessary. Neither bowler has done enough to justify being in the team.

There is no one in the squad who can solve that problem, the only Pakistani bowler who can use the new ball effectively is Abbas, but even he fails often in ODI matches. Added to that he is hopeless at death bowling because like Junaid he is medium pace.

Selectors are going for Wahab more out of despair at the lack of success with the other bowlers rather than any great belief he will deliver. He has one thing to offer and that is pace. The other guys have absolutely nothing to offer, that is the brutal truth of it.
 
I dont understand your narrow single minded focus on Inzamam all the time. You keep forgetting that there is Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz in the mix as well. Mickey Arthur did not want Wahab in the team in the last 2 years and Inzi obliged, now it appears Sarfaraz and Inzi have put their foot down on Mickey Arthur.

Can pin point many other examples as well where Inzi has selected players in the squad only for Arthur to not play them. And don't bring Inzi's captaincy or history as a player into it.

Inzi is carrying on the mantra that he came with from the beginning that as a captain i always strongly insisted on selecting the playing 11 and squad of 15 as i was answerable to the nation and i will carry on the same approach with the captain coach i.e. giving them the players that they want and evidence shows that he has done exactly that.

Inzi the batsman was one of my most favorites, but can't say the same about the person.

May be I am too harsh, but definitely I am not the only one and there is actually a valid reason for that for most of us. It's not that he is first time in such an influential role and I can see an exact pattern, but obviously Captain & Coach has their share of blame as well.

Coming to Inzamam, it's not for his Selection (Or Captaincy) that has developed a perception about him, but I found some of his past (& present) acts quite disliking.

I have mentioned about the ICL - but, it's not for the fixed matches that was played there (Lots of exhibition games are fixed and even active players do play those), rather being PAK Captain for 4 years - how could he pulled so many players at their prime, which could have put PAK into associate level instantly, had there been a harsher actions by ICC. Then come the events after his retirement - there are several versions of the story available, won't go to there as I myself don't know what was actual truth, but after retirement, his name should never have been there. PAK players doing nonsense within squad is not new, but for a figure like him being involved in such acts ...imagine. Players are not saints, and if we dig in deep, there will be ugly truth for many other PAK greats, but can you imagine Imran, Javed, Zaheer, Wasim, Waquar or Hanif, Mazid .... associated with such stories?

And, it's a fact that despite being 2 times U19 World Champs, during his time only one could make the squad and several players were categorically sidelined and he is doing the same here as CS. I do know that playing XI is all about Coach, Captain & On tour management - but, you open my posts on squad for the SRL Series, ZIM series, Asia Cup, SAF series, AUS Series .... you'll notice that every where I have mentioned that few picks are made categorically blocking some players or protect some players .... I leave it to you for a better judgement as those series are over and we are a week away from WC.

He is the CS and utmost powerful CS (A paid one) in PCB's history - we should expect better from him. He was in Canada during PAK's disaster tour of NZ, even these days I can see him most times when his nephew is playing. And, his explanations are often clueless to be honest.

But, this time finally, the "rectified" squad for WC is good, probably as good as it can be, hence he has got his praise from me - I did back his call of selecting Wahab & Amir.
 
Wahab has already surprised everyone by making the WC party :jk
 
Just have to say that I did not even see this thread a couple of days ago I just saw an inzi conference for a couple of minutes like who would replace what players in the squad as im a full time student in germany so dont have time for checking such forums like this but last night voice in my head also conveyed me that he would help Pakistan lift the world cup.

I thought that I should have shared my voice with you.

Good luck!
 
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