Dubai. A new look can often provide the spur to perform at one’s best. This was proved by Peshawar Zalmi’s left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz who has been out of form and been in and out of the Pakistan team. In the opening match of the Pakistan Super League on Thursday night, Riaz returned with a vengeance for defending champions Peshawar.
A drooping moustache seemed to have done Riaz a world of good and it promptly evoked comparisons with Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, so much so it is being touted as Johnson-esque. “I have grown it to motivate myself. I consider it as a motivation basically to remind me who I am and what I am generally known for as a pacer. I have to bring that feeling back into me that I am a quick fast bowler and want to perform as best as I can with it and it should help me in the future,” said Riaz, who is looking to instil a bit of fear in the batsman as he runs in to bowl.
Riaz took two wickets, which included the prize wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, the proven matchwinner in the Sultans’ ranks. The pacey outswinger that induced an edge from Sangakkara to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was a beauty and so was the delivery that sent back opener Ahmad Shahzad for a duck. Riaz also revealed that he considers Johnson to be the fastest bowler in the world.
Cricketers these days seem to enjoy experimenting with weird looks, like India’s Hardik Pandya’s changing hair styles. Riaz kept on grinning to his fans ostensibly to draw attention to his moustache. Win or lose, Riaz enjoys playing for Peshawar. “Peshawar is the team that I have been playing for the last two years and I enjoy playing for them.”
“It was a good start for me. If I can perform in big tournaments like this it is very good. It gives you confidence too,” Riaz said.
To lose the first match is not a good feeling for anyone but it is only a start and it is all about the combination. Multan played better than us. We will try and win the coming matches.”
Riaz went on to laud his teammate Mohammad Hafeez who topscored with 59 runs. “Hafeez bhai [brother] has shown once again what kind of calibre and quality he has in him. It wasn’t easy to score those runs on a fresh wicket. Four good fast bowlers were bowling at him. So he scored those runs in tough conditons and has proved a point again that he is one of the best players in Pakistan right now.”
Afridi badly missed
Riaz admitted that Shahid Afridi’s move away from Peshawar to join Karachi Kings was a big loss. “Afridi is a matchwinner and, whichever team he plays for, he will be a matchwinner. So with Afridi we had a team combination; when such a matchwinner goes, we need to recover [and] especially youngsters coming in should grab the opportunities and perform well. A few victories will be good for these youngsters and also the team,” he said.
As sweet as Multan Halwa
The sweet taste of Multan Halwa is simply hard to resist. Expats visiting Multan make it a point to get some of the sweet stuff on their return to the UAE. So when debutants Multan Sultans won their opening PSL match, that too by defeating defending champions Peshawar Zalmi, former Pakistan captain and commentator Rameez Raja tweeted: “A Great win for Sultans. It must have tasted every bit as sweet as Multani Halwa.. in fact made a halwa of the opposition.. what a way to announce yourself as a contender for HBL PSL3.. impressive debut.”
