Injured Wahab Riaz in doubt ahead of the Champions Trophy encounter against India

Left-arm Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz has been put in the doubtful list ahead of the encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy due to a knee injury. Wahab has been one of the most consistent players in the Pakistan squad, with the left-arm’s pace and line of deliveries. The encounter at Birmingham is set to test the Indian outfit put against the Pakistani pace bowlers with the Indian batsmen in prime form post the Indian Premier League.

Wahab Riaz has been one of the most experienced pacer for the men in green, with the absence of the veteran 7ft left-arm seamer Mohd. Irfan. Reports suggest that Wahab Riaz might be ruled out of the 15-man squad if the problem persists. Wahab is famously known for his bowling performances in the 2015 World Cup, where he took the likes of the Australian batsmen at their home, with some tremendous pace. In an hour of intense bowling, the Australian batsmen seemed to be in all sorts of trouble, before Watson rescued the innings for the hosts.

Handy with the bat

The left-arm bowler is also more than capable of striking the ball sweetly with the boundaries a tad short than the ones at Australia. A handy inning or two would be missed if the Pakistani pace bowler is ruled out of action against arch-rivals India.

However, on the contrary, Pakistani bowling coach Azhar Mahmood suggested that the injury to the left-arm seamer is not a serious one, while he hoped for a speedy return for the fast-bowler. Wahab was also not seen bowling the practice session conducted by the Pakistan coaching staff on Tuesday, while he finished his gym sessions.

Pakistan will be locking horns with the Indian team after they suffered a horrible loss at the hands of the Indian bowlers at Edgbaston. On that day, it was Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja striking in tandem to dismiss Pakistan for a paltry 165 in just 39.4 overs, while in reply, India achieved the revised target of 102 in the 20^th over to win the important fixture.