Wahab Riaz reveals his list of best bowlers currently, names the batter he is afraid of bowling to

Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz, who is currently active for Jaffna Kings in the ongoing Lanka Premier League 2021, has revealed his choices for the top batters and bowlers in the world at the moment.

Riaz heaped massive praise on his compatriot Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali, while he also spoke of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc and India’s Jasprit Bumrah highly.

“They have a lot of capability. They read the game and execute their plans really well. If they require yorkers, or if they require slow ones, they would read the wicket and bowl accordingly,” Riaz was quoted by cricwick.

Asked who would he term the best batter and a player he finds is challenging to bowl to, Riaz named and lauded the likes of Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma, but chose one above all the rest.

“There are a lot of such players like Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam who are hard to bowl to. But one player I have always been afraid to bowl to is AB de Villiers. He always knows what is coming next from me. He reads the game well, and always plays well against me,” Riaz explained.

Wanindu Hasaranga is one of the best leg-spinners in the world: Wahab Riaz

Riaz, who has scalped five wickets in the ongoing LPL thus far, was all praises for teammate Wanindu Hasaranga, whose stocks continue to rise in world cricket. Riaz marked Hasaranga as one of the best in the world currently, while he attributed Jaffna Kings’ success in the edition to the leg-spinner.

“If I am honest, Wanindu Hasaranga is one of the best leg-spinners right now in the world. Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana have been really good this season for our team. They really set the tones in the powerplay overs by taking wickets and restricting the opposition,” Riaz said.

The Kings, who started the tournament on the wrong note as they lost their season opener to Galle Gladiators, have made a rousing comeback ever since, winning four on the trot to sit at the top spot in the tally.

“We learned from the mistakes we made in our first match. Now we are trying to cover all those basics. Everybody is ticking every box and that’s why we are winning as a team,” Riaz said of his team’s comeback after starting with a loss.

Asked on the team is preparing to defend their title, Riaz said: “You have to play good cricket throughout the tournament. You cannot say you are the favourites in the tournament as that can put you on the back foot. I can see the hunger in boys to win. We are thinking about one game at a time. We are not thinking about championship or too far ahead.”