Dropped from Pakistan Cricket Board’s central contract list reportedly for quitting Test cricket, left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz said he decided to stop playing the traditional format as he was not getting to play matches.
Riaz, who turns 35 this month, has not played for the Pakistan Test team since October 2018 and that was the trigger behind his decision to focus on white-ball cricket.
“I haven’t thought much about Test cricket,” Riaz was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“People want me to play and I still have the desire to play. I want to make a comeback in Tests but it depends how I handle my fitness. I want to continue performing in whatever games that I [get to] play as I don’t like sitting on the bench. So when I comeback, I want to be part of the playing eleven. I have not been part of the Test set-up for two years and because I played a lot of white-ball cricket, I decided to take time off from red-ball cricket,” he said.
Riaz, has a combined total of 228 wickets from 27 Tests, 89 One-Day Internationals and 31 T20 Internationals.
The PCB dropped Wahab, who made his Test debut in 2010 in England, as well as fellow left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir from their new central contracts list. The perception is that both the pacers were punished apparently for deciding to leave Test cricket when Pakistan needed them.
Riaz, who is a regular in T20 franchise cricket, however, said playing for Pakistan was far more important for him than getting a central contract.
“Central contracts is performance based and it offers a sense of security for a player. I want to continue representing Pakistan so that is my aim over getting a central contract,” he said.
Riaz said he would continue to play cricket as long as he felt he can contribute.
“I want to serve Pakistan for long as I can. I still have the passion and desire to play for my country, it all depends on my fitness,” he said.
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(With PTI inputs)