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Wahab Riaz: Top 5 spells in Test cricket

Riaz, who turns 32 on Wednesday, has become the experienced bowler for Pakistan over the last few years.

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Wahab has been a force to reckon with and will like to pose some threat in England's camp © AFP
Wahab has been a force to reckon with for Pakistan © AFP

Pakistan are known for their bowlers, especially the fast ones. They somehow keep churning them out every year, from Fazal Mahmood, Khan Mohammad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and beyond. The current Pakistan also have few bowlers who have shown from time to time that they have the potential to perform and dominate the batsmen of the opponent teams of their lethal deliveries. After Asif was banned from cricket following the spot-fixing fiasco, Pakistan had a bit of problem in shaping up their pace battery. Wahab Riaz made a mark since 2010 and rose to fame after ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final against arch rivals India. Since then a lot has been expected from him and he has delivered from time to time. On his birthday, here are five most devastating spells from the pacer: ALSO READ: Happy Birthday Riaz: PAK pacer turns 31

5 for 63 against England, 3rd Test, The Oval: Riaz made a dream debut for his national side in the third Test match of the four match Test series when Pakistan last toured England in 2010. Coming in for Umar Gul, who had injured himself in the previous Test, he had minimal match practice making his debut for Pakistan. Things turned out in his favour, due to his efficient pace, as he scalped five wickets in the first day of the third Test. He took the wickets of Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Stuart Broad and dismissed the hosts for 233 in the first innings. Pakistan won the Test as a result of Riaz’s great start in international cricket. ALSO READ: Will Misbah and co. reclaim honour for PAK in ENG?

4 for 66 against England, 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi: Pakistan’s victory over England in the second Test, coming after that gripping draw in the series opener, bore the stamp of Yasir Shah in the side, but it was Wahab’s exceptional spell on the third morning that really swung the pendulum in the home team’s way. In 9 back-breaking overs featuring high pace and tasty reverse-swing under a hot sun, Wahab picked up the important scalps of Joe Root (88), Ben Stokes (4) and Jos Buttler (0) for just 15 runs, each of the batsmen caught behind, as England went from 206 for 4 to 212 for 6, eventually getting all out for 242 For that brilliant game-changing spell, Wahab was named Man of the Match, beating Yasir’s match figures of 8 for 180 on return to the side.

3 for 55 against Bangladesh, 1st Test, Khulna: In a batting friendly track in Khulna, Bangladesh batted first and almost every batsmen were among runs. Wahab still got some assistance from the pitch to get 3 wickets for his side. He first removed Mahmudullah on 49 and then came back to remove the two tail-enders. Pakistan made 628 in reply to Bangladesh’s 332 but the hosts played well to draw the match. Riaz was ineffective in the second innings but first 3 wickets in the first innings did put some pressure on Bangladesh.

3 for 38 against New Zealand, 1st Test, Hamilton: In Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand in 2011, Pakistan did the unthinkable as they won the first Test of the series by 10 wickets. Batting first, the hosts were all out for 275 and in reply Pakistan made 367, thus taking a lead of 92. In the second innings, Wahab along with Gul and Abdur Rehman broke the backbone of New Zealand’s batting line-up as they were dismissed for a paltry 110. The target for Pakistan was 19, and they won without losing a wicket. He got three most important batsmen from the New Zealand team, Jesse Ryder, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson, back to the pavilion. Credit went to Wahab for being one of the chief destructors from the visiting side. ALSO READ: Indian govt holding back resumption of bilateral series: Shahryar

3 for 76 and 3 for 88 against Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Colombo: Though Pakistan lost this match by a whopping margin of 105 runs, Wahab continued to impress with 2 three-wicket hauls in both the innings of the Test match. In Sri Lanka’s first innings, he made all the talk with the ball by claiming Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews and Upul Tharanga’s wickets. On the other hand, in their second innings, he picked up the wickets of Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath to push the hosts on the back foot. However, Pakistan kept their terrible chasing record intact as they could not chase 271 for victory and lost the match. This was also Mahela Jayawardene’s last Test for the Islanders.

Riaz has been a consistent feature for Pakistan for some time now the past few years. He has pace, a good action and lethal reverse-swing at his disposal, posing questions for the opposition. He is a threat on his day, and his aggression and never-say-die-attitude are inspiring.

(Aditya Sahay is a journalist with CricketCountry who is completely into sports and loves writing about cricket in general. He can be followed on Twitter at adisahay7)

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