Wahab Riaz said it was difficult for him to sit and watch

Nothing went right for Pakistan and Wahab Riaz in the first match of the Champions Trophy. They suffered a 124-run damaging defeat at the hands of their arch rivals. Wahab conceded 87 runs in less than 9 overs before leaving the ground due to torn ligaments. This injury ruled him out of rest of the tournament. The fast bowler has said that missing out on this historic success is the biggest regret of his life.

Sitting out of the tournament was hard to accept

He said that he is very happy for the team but admitted that missing out on Champions Trophy due to injury was a hard reality for him to accept.

“I am very happy that the team did so well and won the trophy for the first time. Because we are a team. But having remained a regular member of the Pakistan team in different formats for the last few years, sitting out from such an important event after being forced out by injury was a hard reality to accept,” Wahab Riaz said as quoted by Cricketnext.

He further added that in that game he started to feel pain in his legs after few overs. In spite of the injury, he continued to bowl for the benefit of the team.

“It was a difficult match for all of us and we just came under too much pressure. We were nowhere, to be honest in that match and I started feeling pain in my ankle after just three to four overs. But I kept on bowling because of the situation and because we wanted to restrict India,” Wahab further said.

Hopes to be back quickly

The 31-year-old has bowled some memorable spells in important games for Pakistan. He took 5 wickets vs India in the 2011 World Cup semi-final and he also bowled one of the spells of the tournament in 2015 World Cup quarterfinal vs Australia.

Wahab said that he expects to be fully fit in a week or two. He also credited the turnaround in Pakistan’s hopes in the Champions to the team meeting. He said the team meeting changed the mood in the camp and also was full of praise for Pakistan’s bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, Wahab credited him for bringing change in Pakistan bowlers’ mindset.

He also said that he was always ready to listen to advice and was keen to make a strong comeback.