Wahab Riaz's dream of getting selected for World Cup 2019 comes true

He had last played an ODI match for Pakistan almost two years ago, in the Champions Trophy 2017. He wasn’t even called in a recent fitness camp of the Pakistan players before the preliminary World Cup squad was picked. But Lady Luck smiled on Wahab Riaz at the eleventh hour as the Pakistan selectors felt the team required an experienced bowler like him especially after the hammering they received from England in a five-match ODI series recently.

Pakistan scored high 300s in three games in the series but also conceded above 340 in all of them, which exposed their bowling. The Men in Green called an emergency huddle and brought back left-arm pacer Riaz from oblivion and also Mohammad Amir who has had a dreadful run with the ball of late, picking up only five wickets from 14 games. The likes of Junaid Khan were left out as a result of the adjustments that raised quite a few eyebrows.

Riaz isn’t complaining

The 33-year-old Riaz, who had impressed with his lion-hearted performance in the Champions Trophy quarter-final against Australia, though wasn’t complaining. The man, who was speaking in favour of Pakistan’s prospects in the World Cup from the sidelines a few days ago, has now suddenly found himself at the centre stage. Riaz, in fact, revealed how actually he felt.

“8-10 days ago I had a dream that Inzi bhai called me and said Wahab this is your last chance, you’re going to the World Cup. Then yesterday Inzi bhai called me up and said start getting ready, you’re going to the World Cup,” Pakistan-based Pak Passion website’s editor Saj Sadiq quoted in a tweet the bowler as saying. It will be Riaz’s third World Cup after 2011 and 2015.

Wahab Riaz "8-10 days ago I had a dream that Inzi bhai called me and said Wahab this is your last chance, you're going to the World Cup. Then yesterday Inzi bhai called me up and said start getting ready, you're going to the World Cup" #CWC19

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) May 21, 2019

Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq recently revealed why they fell back on the likes of Riaz and Amir. The former Pakistan captain said it was felt that the bowlers who were originally included lacked the experience and the presence of the likes of Riaz who can bowl with both the new and old ball and produce reverse swing in the death overs would help the team’s cause.

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