'I will back my skills to dismiss the batsman' - Wahab Riaz rejects the idea of 'Mankading'

‘Mankading’ has left the cricket fraternity divided into two halves. While one set believes that it’s completely fair, the other section feels that it’s against the spirit of the game. ‘Mankading’ is a method of run out where a bowler dismisses the non-striker by removing the bails before bowling when the non-striker is outside the crease.

Over the years, many former and current players have opined on the ‘Mankad’ debate. Pakistan speedster Wahab Riaz also stated his opinion over ‘Mankading’ and said that there is no fun in winning a match through ‘Mankading’. According to the speedster, ‘Mankading’ is against the sportsman spirit and hence, he will depend on his skills to dismiss the batsman.

“I will deliver the ball normally because I think Mankading is against sportsman spirit. I will back my skills to dismiss the batsman because there is no fun in winning if you adopt such tactics,” said Riaz as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

Wahab Riaz also revealed a funny incident involving Yasir Shah

Wahab Riaz also opened up on Pakistan’s upcoming tour of England, which is slated to take place in August. “It will be a challenging task for the Pakistan team but the good thing is the revival of cricket,” he said. “I appreciate the steps taken by the PCB and ECB to make this happen.”

The 34-year-old pacer, who has been away from donning the whites for Pakistan, also opened up about his indefinite break from Test cricket. Wahab said that he will only play Test cricket if he’s a regular part of the team instead of just warming the bench.

“I will only play Test cricket if I’m able to perform and be a regular part of the team, rather than warming the bench,” he said. “Before my decision to take a break from Test cricket, I was not part of the side for almost two years and my good performances were largely in white-ball cricket.”

Wahab also revealed the funniest moment of his career which involved Yasir Shah. During a match against Australia in Melbourne, Wahab had told Yasir that Starc will hit him towards the tunnel in the stadium and that’s what happened.

“We were once on a tour of Australia and we were struggling in Melbourne. Yasir Shah was hit for a six by Mitchell Starc despite the boundaries being very big,” he said.

“I started toying with Yasir and told him that Starc will hit him towards the tunnel in the stadium as well and that is exactly what happened. Seeing that I burst into laughter,” added the speedster.