Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz, who made his Test debut in 2010, bowled a lethal spell in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter final match against Australia in Adelaide. Bowling consistently attacking bouncers to Shane Watson and bringing two early break throughs while Pakistani team was defending a mean target of 214 made him a new hero of Pakistani cricket fans and will be remembered for a long time.

Born in June 1985, Wahab Riaz is a left-arm fast bowler and frequently bowls at speeds of around 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) and has reached 99 miles per hour (159 km/h). He was chosen in the squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh which also included India. In his first match against Bangladesh Wahab finished with 3 wickets for 22 runs in 7 overs.

Wahab made his Test debut against England in the third test of the 2010 series. England batted first and Wahab took 5/63 in the first innings. In Pakistan's first innings Wahab, who is right-hand batsman came into bat at number 3 and made 27 runs.

Wahab, next played for Pakistan in the Test series against South Africa in October 2010 and also participated in 4 ODIs. He was selected to play in the first Test and he took two wickets those of Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla. However, towards the end of the day he picked up a side strain. He did not bowl the following day. A scan showed that Riaz had picked up an injury which takes 4–5 weeks to recover from and thus he missed the rest of the Test series.

In March 2011, Wahab played for National team in at least four matches with an above average performance. However, he really came in the limelight at the Pakistan Vs India semi-final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, when he replaced Shoaib Akhtar and took 5 wickets.

Shortly after the World Cup, Pakistan toured the West Indies for two Tests, five ODIs, and a T20. Wahab was included in the squad. He took two wickets in the T20, which Pakistan lost, and played in four out of the five ODIs, taking seven wickets at an average of 25.28 and finishing as Pakistan's leading wicket-taker in the series. In a report to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on the team’s performance in the West Indies, Coach Waqar Younis commented that Riaz had an ‘average’ tour. In May Pakistan toured Ireland for a two-match ODI series, and although Riaz was included in the squad he did not play a match.

After the tour of Ireland, Wahab entered talks with Kent, eventually signing to play for them in county cricket. The club had suffered injuries to their fast bowlers and Wahab was drafted in to bolster their line-up. He made his twenty20 debut for Kent against Glamorgan on 11 June. He took a single wicket, that of Chris Cooke, and guided his team to victory with 32 runs not out, hitting the winning runs after being sent in up the order.

On his home debut Wahab took a hat-trick, dismissing Chris Taylor, Ed Young, and Richard Coughtrie and recording figures of 5 wickets for 17 runs (5/17) against Gloucestershire to help his team to an eight-wicket victory. It was the second time a player had taken a T20 hat-trick for Kent, and was the first time Wahab took five wickets in the format, beating previous best bowling figures of 3/14. During his spell with Kent, Wahab took 13 first-class wickets at an average of 33.53, 9 in list A cricket at 13.33, and 20 wickets in T20 matches at an average of 19.85.

In August 2011, Wahab was awarded a category B central contract with the PCB. Six players were in category A, eight (including Wahab) in B, and nine in C. When Pakistan toured Zimbabwe in September, Wahab was rested with the selectors taking the opportunity to blood a number of new and inexperienced players. Though, recalled to the Test squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka, Wahab did not play in the series and was dropped from the ODI squad to face the same opponents. His continued absence was not explained by the PCB.

He was recalled to Pakistan's Test squad to face England for three matches in the United Arab Emirates. While he was out of the side, Wahab played for the National Bank of Pakistan in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy. Before the squad was announced he had taken 30 wickets in the competition at an average of 24.86, and 213 runs at an average of 35.50.

Wahab was selected for the 15-man squad for Pakistan in the 2015 Cricket World Cup and Pakistan's opening game against Arch-rivals and the defending champions India. He took 5 wickets for 47 runs (5/47), his only five wicket haul.

In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter final match against Australia in Adelaide, Wahab bowled a lethal spell, consistently bowling attacking bouncers to Shane Watson and brought 2 early break throughs while Pakistan team was defending a mean target of 214.