Wahab Riaz mulls international retirement after 2023 World Cup

Senior Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz has hinted about his retirement from international cricket after the 2023 ODI World Cup which will be played in India. The 36-year-old pacer is currently out of the national side and feels that his time will come in the next two to three years. This is why he is mulling to exit the international arena after 2023.

Riaz stated that the fitness and performance of the player are of prime importance while maintaining their place in the team and he doesn’t want to be the burden for his side. Therefore, the veteran pacer will take exit from international cricket after the 2023 ODI WC while he will be open to playing leagues around the world.

“Everyone has to say goodbye to cricket one day but I still feel, I have good two to three years left,” Wahab Riaz told A sports.

“My aim is to play the 2023 World Cup and after that, I will say goodbye to cricket from Pakistan, I will look to play leagues all around the world,” he added.

Wahab Riaz has picked 237 wickets across formats for Pakistan

It has to be noted that Riaz has played 27 Tests and 91 ODIs with the Pakistan team. He has also donned the green journey in 36 T20Is while picking 237 wickets across formats. The next World Cup is all set to take place in India. In fact, the 2021 T20 WC was scheduled to be staged in India but had to be moved to the UAE owing to the COVID-19 situation in the nation.

Talking about the Pakistan team, they fared very well in the tournament before being knocked out in the semi-final against Australia. Pakistan marched through semis in styles by winning all their league games but their little mistakes in the crucial fixture pushed them out of the tournament.

The match was very well looking in Babar Azam’s favour but some berserk hitting by Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis did wonders for Australia. Hasan Ali dropped a catch by Shaheen Shah Afridi and then the batter hit Afridi for three straight sixes taking Kangaroos home.