Left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz is one of the most curious cases in world cricket. Much like the county he represents, he is unpredictable in the sense that it is difficult to expect his performance- both on and off the field. When on song, Riaz can make a mockery of even the best batting lineups but on other days he is an easy target for batsmen to score plenty off.
Riaz is currently featuring in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) side and is, in fact, the captain of the Peshawar Zalmi. The left-arm pacer was instrumental in Zalmi claiming their first win under his captaincy as he picked up 3 wickets for 21 runs against defending champions Quetta Gladiators on Thursday.
Now, in a recent interview, Riaz has alleged that it was the erstwhile Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur who had dropped him from the team despite his performances being better than that of Mohammad Amir.
“Mickey Arthur always felt I wasn’t fit and not a match-winner. I came up with better performances than Mohammad Amir but Mickey demoted me in central contract & because of him I was out of the team from 2017 to 2019, it was pure injustice for me from Arthur’s side,” Wahab Riaz said in an interview to Samaa TV.
I had more performances then Muhammad Aamir but Mickey Arthur demoted my in central contract & because of him I was out of team from 2017 to 2019, Mickey did injustice with me,,,,,,,, Wahab Riaz was in my show
مکی آرتھر نے وہاب ریاض کیساتھ زیادتی کی pic.twitter.com/EiYMUh2HT0— Shoaib Jatt (@Shoaib_Jatt) March 5, 2020
It remains to be seen if the 34-year-old manages to cement his place in the national team yet again and help Pakistan win many more matches in coming times.