Cricketer Wahab Riaz has been named the Interim Sports Minister of Punjab. His name has been included in the interim ministers that have taken the oath yesterday.
Wahab Riaz will also be playing the Pakistan Super League 8 from Peshawar Zalmi while being in office as the Sports Minister. Cricket fans say this is happening for the first time when the provincial sports minister will be playing cricket while being in office.
Wahab Riaz is already playing for Khulna Tigers in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League. He will assume his post in due time. Riaz has taken 237 wickets in 156 international games for Pakistan. Wahab Riaz has taken an indefinite break from red-ball cricket in 2019.
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Riaz had said: “After reviewing my past couple of years’ performances in red-ball cricket and the upcoming limited-overs cricket, I have decided to take time off from first-class cricket.
wahab riaz as a sports minister. https://t.co/74YVxVf42Y pic.twitter.com/mFawmP5MNk
— t . 🧢 (@acharomattuba) January 26, 2023
Very interesting to know that Wahab Riaz will be the sports minister in Punjab. Should we congratulate him? I am confused 😀 pic.twitter.com/KBUWH8bbHP
— Suleman Raza MBE (@iamsulemanraza) January 26, 2023
Wahab Riaz will be the first ever sports minister who will be playing the PSL 😂
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) January 26, 2023
“During this period, I will like to focus on 50-over and 20-over cricket and continue to access my fitness for the longer version of the game. At a stage I feel I cannot only return but also perform with the red ball, I would make myself available,” he had added.
Cricket fans have congratulated Wahab Riaz for assuming the new post in the Punjab Caretaker setup.
Wahab Riaz recently came into the news for his remarks against the former chief selection Muhammad Waseem. Wahab Riaz had expressed his frustration for not selecting senior players in the team for the ICC events. “Laptop chief selector did a poor selection. He didn’t have justification for not selecting players like Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Shoaib and Imad performed well in T20 World Cup 2021. Why didn’t their performance come on his laptop? Why were they ignored for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia? What was their fault?”