Wahab Riaz

"One of the fastest spells I have seen in a long time", this is what Michael Clarke had to say during the post-match presentation on Wahab Riaz after his onslaught with the ball against Shane Watson in the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup. Defending 213, Wahab forced Warner into a fatal upper cut and bounced Clarke into submission forcing his creaking back to arc back further. Watson though saw the brutality of a Pakistan fast bowler who exploded with bouncers hurled at 150 km/hr. This certainly was one of the highlights during the World Cup Down Under.

The big stage and owning it is no big deal for Wahab. During the 2011 World Cup, Riaz had scalped a fifer in the semifinals against arch-rivals India to give Pakistan a more than sniffing chance for the final. But a batting mishap, so common for Pakistan in big games, cost them the game. But Wahab was in the limelight. Pakistan had lost Amir and Asif a year earlier to fixing. But Wahab's arrival showcased the Pakistani speedster coffers are replete with quality and quantity.

But the 2015 magnus opus over from Wahab to Watson made him a first choice selection in almost every format. There were murmurs of him being the next skipper as Misbah hung his boots post the World Cup. However, since then, one thing for sure was Wahab and a magic round the corner with the red or white ball hasn't been looked upon as a surprise or shock. It is just a Wahab thing! Uninhibited, raw, quick and extremely harmful to the fate of a batsman.

Wahab's trysts with serious cricket began in early 2000s as he made his first-class debut in the 2001-02 season. But the national selectors picked him for the ODI side in 2008. And after the magical fifer against India in the 2011 semi-finals, one of his balls, a toe-crushing yorker swirling in to beat the defences of Yuvraj Singh will remain a career highlight for the man from Lahore. As a lower order batsman, he is highly under-rated but is never shy to have a stomach for a fight with the willow in his hands. A stronger and fitter Wahab in years to come will keep the batsman on the back foot for sure!

World Cup through the years:

Wahab Riaz was not initially part of Pakistan's 2019 World Cup squad but a combination of poor performances from his fellow fast bowlers and his incredible past record in the World Cup has earned him a place through the backdoor. Wahab has managed to take his game to another level at the biggest stage in cricket. Against India, in a high-voltage semifinal, Wahab was picked ahead of Shoaib Akhtar and he left no stone unturned in justifying team management's trust. He got the older ball to reverse viciously, removed Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni and ended up with a stellar five-wicket haul. But unfortunately, that performance wasn't enough for his side as Pakistan failed to chase down the target.

His next knockout match in the World Cup was against Australia four years later in Adelaide. And Wahab Riaz produced one of the fiercest spells in World Cup's history to make it a memorable day for cricket aficionados. For a period of around 40 minutes, he literally bullied Shane Watson with his thunderbolts. Watson would have feared for his life at one point but he battled hard, got through that tough phase and took Australia over the finishing line. In the 2019 World Cup he will be looking to stamp his authority again.

By Kumar Abhisekh Das