Wahab Riaz ready to make his Test comeback in England

Reports from the Pakistan camp suggest that experienced pacer Wahab Riaz has already informed the head coach of the Pakistan cricket team, Mishab-ul-Haq that he can make a return to Test cricket if his services are required during the England tour. Riaz has taken a break from red-ball cricket to pay more attention to white-ball cricket. His decision has come after another pacer, Mohammad Amir announced his retirement from Test cricket to strengthen his spot in the white-ball side.

Pakistan will be touring England for three Tests and three T20Is in the upcoming month. Amir has already pulled out of the tour citing the birth of his second child as a reason. It is expected that Amir and his wife will have a baby sometime in late July or August. However, Wahab was named in the 29-member squad which was announced on Friday by the Pakistan Cricket Board for the tour.

I have spoken to Wahab Riaz: Misbah-ul-Haq

According to the reports on India Today, Wahab Riaz has accepted that he will be willing to play Test matches in England if his team requires. “Yes I spoke to Wahab about this and he said if needed, he will be available to play the Test matches in England,” Misbah said.

It should be noted that the left-arm bowler hasn’t played a single Test match since October 2018. He played the Test series in the UAE against Australia then. He has played 29 Tests in total and has picked up 83 wickets. He averages 34.5 with the ball.

PCB included four spinners and 10 pacers in their extended squad for the tour. During an interaction, Misbah had revealed that bowlers would need more time to adjust to the COVID-19 protocols.

“Hopefully the five weeks training camp and practice games we have in England before the first test will allow all the bowlers to settle down and also get used to new SOPs like not using saliva to shine the ball, avoiding celebrations after taking a wicket etc. It is not easy for a pace bowler, in particular, to get back into rhythm after three months of not playing cricket or nets at all,” Misbah added.