Wahab Riaz leaves BPL to assume caretaker Punjab sports minister office

Wahab Riaz has left Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to assume the caretaker Punjab sports minister office!

Left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz is among the 11-member Punjab interim cabinet that took oath on Thursday.

37-year-old cricketer had to leave the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to assume office.

He bagged 12 wickets in the ongoing tournament in just six matches.

A day earlier, Wahab Riaz shared his views about favouritism during Ramiz Raja’s tenure as the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman when Mohammad Wasim was the chief selector of the national men’s team.

Riaz who represented the national team for the last time back in 2020, also raised questions over being “ignored” for T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

In an interview with Geo Super, the cricketer blamed Wasim for disregarding senior players regardless of their performances.

“Laptop chief selector [Wasim] did a poor selection. He didn’t have justification for the non-selection of players like Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, and Sarfaraz Ahmed,” he said.

He questioned why Malik and Wasim’s good performance in T20 World Cup 2021 did not show up on the chief selector’s laptop.

“Why they were ignored for T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia? What was their fault?” Wahab Riaz asked.

“I know Ramiz bhai was the last authority. The chief selector was bound to communicate with us but in our culture, you communicate with people who always agree with you. You don’t communicate to the people who know how to defend their stance,” he mentioned.

Wahab was dropped from the squad after he picked five wickets in two ODIs and four wickets in three T20Is he played in 2020 when Ehsan Mani was the PCB chairman and Wasim Khan was the CEO.

When questioned about talking to former PCB chairman Raja about the matter, Wahab Riaz replied he didn’t.

“I know Ramiz bhai was the last authority. The chief selector was bound to communicate with us but in our culture, you communicate with people who always agree with you. You don’t communicate to the people who know how to defend their stance,” he said.

“There must be a limit to favouritism. It’s not right to sideline players calling them over-aged. If age is important, then the rule must be the same for everyone,” he went on to add.

“Take the example of Misbah bhai, who performed for Pakistan at 40+ age. I think the peak of any cricketer starts after the age of 30. There are a lot of other examples too. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Faf Du Plessis: all are 30+, but performing for their teams. In my opinion, age must not be the criterion. If any senior player is worthy for the team, he should be selected regardless of age,” he added.

Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz was representing Khulna Tigers in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.

Wahab eyes a comeback to the national side after his performance at the BPL.

Wahab Riaz has become the only second pacer in T20 history to take 400 wickets during this year’s BPL. The first pacer was West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo.