KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi’s left-arm fast bowler, Wahab Riaz, vouched to recast the spell which left former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson clueless in the 2015 World Cup quarter final, adding that his priority would be to play “for the team first.”
“I have set some bars for my performances because people want me to do the same thing as I had done in 2015. Obviously, I want to clear that. I want to do it again. My priority would be to perform for the team,” Riaz told Arab News earlier this week.
Riaz bowled one of the most ferocious overs in World Cup history helping Pakistan beat Australia in Adelaide on March 19.
Watson, who is representing Pakistan Super League (PSL) champions, the Quetta Gladiators, this year was up against the Zalmis for their second match at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.
The Zalmis almost chased the Karachi Kings’ impressive target of 202 runs on Friday, with Riaz saying that the batting line had become strong after the inclusion of senior batsman, Shoaib Malik.
“I think the limitations were in the last four seasons, because our middle order was not that strong. But after having Shoaib Malik in the team, and the way he has been performing all around the world, I think it’s amazing to have him in the team,” Riaz said, adding that the team had a great combination of players this year.
“It’s amazing that we are getting bowlers who can bowl 140 plus, and Amir is a very sensational bowler. He has got that quality. I think we need to groom these players...and obviously, he is a player who can represent Pakistan in the coming future,” he said in reference to one of the emerging fast bowlers from his team.
Riaz has been a part of Peshawar Zalmi since its inception in 2015 and credits the team’s goodwill to the manner in which the management “takes care of the players.”
“I think the kind of atmosphere we had in Peshawar, it’s amazing ...and especially the way they take care of the players, and the confidence they give to the players. I think it’s not all about money, but it’s all about how the franchise looks after you. So I think that’s the best thing I have seen in Peshawar,” he said.
Wahab welcomed the return of international cricket to Pakistan, which he said gave young players the platform to deal with the pressure, especially in front of a huge crowd, adding in the same breath that he missed playing in front of his home crowd in Peshawar.
“They would love to see their team playing in front of their home crowd. But unfortunately, the grounds are not ready yet. Hopefully by next year, the ground will be ready,” he said.
‘Team first’, Riaz says on repeating 2015 performance against Watson
https://arab.news/rgjkq
‘Team first’, Riaz says on repeating 2015 performance against Watson
- Peshawar Zalmi’s left-arm pacer hopes to play in front of home crowd in Peshawar next year
- Credits stronger batting streak to decision to include Shoaib Malik in the team
Imran Khan’s party shutdown draws mixed response; government calls it ‘ineffective’
- Ex-PM Khan’s PTI party had called for a ‘shutter-down strike’ to protest Feb. 8, 2024 general election results
- While businesses reportedly remained closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they continued as normal elsewhere
ISLAMABAD: A nationwide “shutter-down strike” called by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party drew a mixed response in Pakistan on Sunday, underscoring political polarization in the country two years after a controversial general election.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PIT) opposition party had urged the masses to shut businesses across the country to protest alleged rigging on the second anniversary of the Feb. 8, 2024 general election.
Local media reported a majority of businesses remained closed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, governed by the PTI, while business continued as normal in other provinces as several trade associations distanced themselves from the strike call.
Arab News visited major markets in Islamabad’s G-6, G-9, I-8 and F-6 sectors, as well as commercial hubs in Rawalpindi, which largely remained operational on Sunday, a public holiday when shops, restaurants and malls typically remain open in Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s constitution says people will elect their representatives. But on 8th February 2024, people were barred from exercising their voting right freely,” Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri, the PTI opposition leader in the Senate, said at a protest march near Islamabad’s iconic Faisal Mosque.
Millions of Pakistanis voted for national and provincial candidates during the Feb. 8, 2024 election, which was marred by a nationwide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by the PTI and other opposition parties. The caretaker government at the time and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) both rejected the allegations.
Khan’s PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls. They won the most seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government, which was made by a smattering of rival political parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The government insists the polling was conducted transparently and that Khan’s party was not denied a fair chance.
Authorities in the Pakistani capital deployed a heavy police contingent on the main road leading to the Faisal Mosque on Sunday. Despite police presence and the reported arrest of some PTI workers, Jafri led local PTI members and dozens of supporters who chanted slogans against the government at the march.
“We promise we will never forget 8th February,” Jafri said.
The PTI said its strike call was “successful” and shared videos on official social media accounts showing closed shops and markets in various parts of the country.
The government, however, dismissed the protest as “ineffective.”
“The public is fed up with protest politics and has strongly rejected PTI’s call,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on X.
“It’s Sunday, yet there is still hustle and bustle.”
Ajmal Baloch, All Pakistan Traders Association president, said they neither support such protest calls, nor prevent individuals from closing shops based on personal political affiliation.
“It’s a call from a political party and we do not close businesses on calls of any political party,” Baloch told Arab News.
“We only give calls of strike on issues related to traders.”
Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 after what is widely believed to be a falling out with the country’s powerful generals. The army denies it interferes in politics. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal challenges that ruled him out of the Feb. 8 general elections and which he says are politically motivated to keep him and his party away from power.
In Jan. 2025, an accountability court convicted Khan and his wife in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust land corruption case, sentencing him to 14 years and her to seven years after finding that the trust was used to acquire land and funds in exchange for alleged favors. The couple denies any wrongdoing.
