Sarfraz Ahmed: “We picked Wahab due to his pace and reverse swing, good to see him back”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has revealed that left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz was included in the finalised World Cup squad “due to his pace and reverse swing”.
Wahab was initially not included in the list of 23 probables for the World Cup, but was the third-highest wicket-taker in this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) with 17 wickets in 13 games for the Peshawar Zalmi at an average of 19.88.
Fellow left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Amir and big-hitting middle order batsman Asif Ali were also brought in the side.
With the trio coming into the side, left-arm pace bowler Junaid Khan, all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and opener Abid Ali were removed from the team.
In Pakistan’s shock World Cup warm-up loss to Afghanistan on Friday, Wahab finished with figures of 3-46 off 7.4 overs.
“We picked Wahab due to his pace and reverse swing, good to see him back,” Sarfraz was quoted as saying by PakPassion.
Pakistan’s second World Cup warm-up game will be against Bangladesh in Cardiff on May 26.
They will then begin their World Cup campaign against the West Indies in Nottingham on May 31.
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