[WATCH] PAK Bowler Wahab Riaz Becomes Butt Of Jokes For Taking Five Minutes To Bowl A Single Delivery Against Sri Lanka
Do you guys remember Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz during a Pakistan vs Australia match in the 2015 ICC World Cup? He was bowling deadly as the batsmen like Shane Watson fell off his rocker. After two years, it was the same bowler who took five minutes to bowl a single delivery.
Not for the first time in his career, Wahab Riaz went from the butt of jokes to bowling top dog within the space of an innings, to breathe some life into Pakistan’s flagging hopes of saving the Dubai Test against Sri Lanka.
Wahab was bowling from the same end where he had astonishingly terminated his run up five times in a row, the left-arm quick took 3-10 late in the night session to demolish Sri Lankan batsmen.
On Day-2 of the second Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the world witnessed a bizarre moment of play when Riaz missed his run-up and ended the delivery five times in a row. It was during the 111th over of Sri Lankan first innings, which is 19th over of the bowler.
While attempting to deliver the 5th ball of the over, Riaz struggles left his captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and Coach Mickey Arthur visibly upset. He took as many as five run-ups to bowl one legitimate ball. It was clear that his confidence has taken a major hit over the years.
While Sarfaraz didn’t say a word, Arthur having had seen enough, stood up and walked back into the dressing room. Watch the video to understand how embarrassed Pak coach Mickey Arthur was while watching Riaz’s struggle over and over again.
Watch The Video Here:
“@WahabViki misses his run-up ” 5 Times” in a row
Mickey Arthur’s Reaction 😂😂😂😂@ZaynabWahabviki pic.twitter.com/vgbslgToT1
— Malik Hamid (@OfficialMalik10) October 7, 2017
Eventually, the 32-year-old was on the receiving end of several jokes on social media.
Just Wahab Riaz Things #PakvSL pic.twitter.com/DdtG4U8kRL
— Ahsan. 🇵🇰 (@iPakistaniLAD) October 7, 2017
It’s sad to see Wahab Riaz like this :/
— Arslan (@ArslanKiani7) October 7, 2017
*Wahab Riaz misses his run-up 5 times in a row* 😁😂
Mickey Arthur be like – “_________________Nagarapalika ko bulao” 😂😂#PakvsSL pic.twitter.com/oelM1BCQUD
— Tom Chandler ⚓️ (@SrJ1911) October 8, 2017
Rumman Raees takes 9 in an innings and Junaid Khan takes 8 wickets in the match. But whom do we play in a test? Wahab Riaz 👏
— M Asim Ameer Khan (@itsasimameer) October 8, 2017
What happened to Wahab Riaz? Pakistan coach pissed off like never seen before, run up failure few times? Seeing that first time. #PAKvSL
— Inthiqab Omer (@Inthiqab93) October 7, 2017
Wahab Riaz’s 19 over lasted 7Mins&30Secs.Thats Twice more time than Rohit Sharma spent on the crease against Amir from 2016to2017😂😂@ImRo45
— Hasan Raza (@hrjaf) October 8, 2017
Wahab Riaz struggling.
Mickey Arthur “what’s he doing out there?”
Pakistan fans “we’ve wondered the same thing for many years”#PAKvSL pic.twitter.com/xnVSkmR4AR— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) October 7, 2017
Though the incident drew a lot of criticism for the senior bowler, later on, got his act together to bowl impressively and grabbed 3-10 to derail Sri Lanka’s second innings. Pakistan was dismissed for 262 in their first innings, conceding a big 220-run lead following Sri Lanka’s first innings 482.