Wahab Riaz made a scintillating Test debut against England in 2010 and despite an up and down career, he has become Pakistan's main spearhead in recent times, especially in the limited overs formats.
A left arm fast bowler whose selection for Pakistan, Wahab Riaz has been in and out of the Pakistan side for since he made his debut, largely due to his inconsistency in line and length although his pace ensures he always remains in contention..
Wahab was selected for Pakistan tour of England in 2010 where he was given an opportinity after Umar Gul was injured. In his first Test appearance Wahab took five wickets, swinging the ball both ways at a sharp pace.
As his name popping up in the spot-fixing case taking place in England during 2011, he was subsequently dropped from the team. He was however selected as part of Pakistan's 2011 World Cup squad where he played the semi-final against India, replacing Shoaib Akhtar, and took five wickets.
As often the case, a poor performance against India resulted in his next axing from the side in the 2011 Asia Cup encounter, but he was able to make a comeback in the 2013 tour of South Africa. He was also somewhat surprisingly selected for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and bowled a brilliant spell against the West Indies, but Pakistan's cull after the poor performance saw him out of the team again. He was recalled for the series against South Africa in the winter but failed to take any wickets in the two matches he played and hence was dropped again.
Wahab was recalled to the side after more than a year in the tour of Sri Lanka in August 2014 and did very well taking 7 wickets in three ODI matches. He also played his first Test in more than three years on the tour taking six wickets in the match he played. He continued his good form and played regularly for Pakistan in the lead up to the 2015 World Cup where he played a starring role in the absence of Junaid Khan and Umar Gul among others. His memorable spell against Shane Watson in the quarterfinal against Australia will long live in the memory.
At 29 years of age, Wahab Riaz is in the form of his life and will be hoping to be the main strike bowler of Pakistan for many years. With a crop of young pacers around him he will be hoping to successfully shoulder this responsibility and has done well in the post World Cup tour of Bangladesh and the home series against Zimbabwe where he figured in the list of the highest wicket takers in both series'.
[Last updated on 18 June 2015]