1. Wahab Riaz is a Pakistani cricket administrator and former cricketer who is the chief selector of Pakistan national cricket team from 17 November 2023.
35 Facts About Wahab Riaz
1. 2.
Wahab Riaz served as an advisor to the chief minister of Punjab for sports and youth affairs, in the caretaker government headed by Mohsin Raza Naqvi.
3.
Wahab Riaz frequently bowled at speeds of around 90 mph and had reached 96 miles per hour.
4.
In September 2019, Wahab Riaz announced that he would be taking a break from red-ball cricket to focus on the shorter formats of the game.
5.
In June 2020, Wahab Riaz said he was willing to play Test cricket again, ahead of Pakistan's tour to England.
6.
Wahab Riaz was born on 28 June 1985 to Sheikh Sikandar Riaz, who was a businessman.
7.
Wahab Riaz was educated at the prestigious Aitchison College, Lahore.
8.
Wahab Riaz was chosen in Pakistan's T20I squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh which included India.
9.
Wahab Riaz made his Test debut against England in the third test of the 2010 series.
10.
Wahab Riaz next played for Pakistan in the Test series against South Africa in October 2010 after he participated in 4 ODIs.
11.
Wahab Riaz was selected to play in the first Test later in that series.
12.
Wahab Riaz took the wickets of Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla before suffering a side strain later that day and was later ruled out from the test series.
13.
In March 2011, Wahab Riaz appeared for Pakistan for four matches.
14.
Wahab Riaz performed notably, taking 5 wickets in the Pakistan vs India semi-final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, where he appeared as a replacement for Shoaib Akhtar.
15.
Shortly after the World Cup, Pakistan toured the West Indies for two Tests, five ODIs, and a T20I; Wahab Riaz was included in the squad.
16.
Wahab Riaz took two wickets in the T20I, in a losing effort, 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.
17.
The club had suffered injuries to their fast bowlers and Wahab Riaz was drafted in to bolster their line up.
18.
Wahab Riaz's continued absence was not explained by the PCB.
19.
Wahab Riaz was recalled to Pakistan's Test squad to face England for three matches in the United Arab Emirates.
20.
Wahab Riaz was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with ten dismissals in five matches.
21.
However, on 23 June 2020, Wahab Riaz was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19.
22.
Wahab Riaz followed by a man of the match performance against Zimbabwe in which he scored 54 not out off 46 balls and took 4 wickets.
23.
Wahab Riaz followed it up by taking three wickets versus South Africa.
24.
Wahab Riaz took three wickets against Ireland in Pakistan's last group game.
25.
Wahab Riaz's spell against Australia won him plaudits from numerous cricketers past and present, with Michael Clarke referring to Wahab Riaz's performance 'as good as I've faced in ODI cricket for a long time' and Kevin Pietersen describing the spell as the "Best spell of bowling by a foreigner on Aussie soil for years".
26.
Brian Lara tweeted "I want to meet with this Wahab Riaz guy," adding that he would pay the fine imposed on Wahab Riaz by the ICC for his verbal altercation with Watson.
27.
Wahab Riaz was a regular starter throughout the tournament and took 11 wickets in 8 games with an economy of 6 runs per over and a bowling strike rate of 36.3 balls.
28.
Wahab Riaz was allocated as a Platinum category player in the 2016 Pakistan Super League players draft.
29.
Wahab Riaz was bought by Peshawar Zalmi for $140,000 for the 2016 competition.
30.
Wahab Riaz was retained by the Peshawar Zalmi for the second PSL season in 2017.
31.
Peshawar won the 2017 competition and, as of the end of the 2017 PSL, Wahab Riaz is the leading wicket-taker with 30 wickets in 19 matches.
32.
Wahab Riaz has played for Zalmi in every edition so far.
33.
On 18 February 2022 Wahab Riaz took his 100th wicket in the PSL for Peshawar, becoming the first player overall to reach the milestone.
34.
In January 2023, Wahab Riaz was appointed as sports minister in Mohsin Raza Naqvi's caretaker Punjab government but could not take his oath due to his busy schedule.
35.
Wahab Riaz was later appointed as the Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab for sports and youth affairs on 22 March 2023.