Wahab Riaz reportedly set to announce retirement from Tests

Mohammad Amir's shock retirement from Tests at the age of 27 has reportedly shocked the Pakistan Cricket Board and many former players and analysts. Now, on the heels of Amir's retirement, there are reports emerging that Wahab Riaz has announced his retirement from Test cricket. According to a report in a Pakistan website, Wahab has informed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani about his decision and will make a formal announcement after coming back to Pakistan as he is currently participating in a T20 league in Canada. Currently, Wahab is playing for the Brampton Wolves in the Twenty20 tournament there. Wahab has taken 83 wickets in 27 Tests and his last Test was against Australia in 2018 in Dubai.

Recently, Wahab was not picked in the tour to Ireland and England before the World Cup and there were questions about his future. Pakistan cricket coach Mickey Arthur had said in an interview to ESPNCricinfo that Wahab had not won Pakistan a game for two years. "I expect players that have been around for a long time to be winning us games and setting standards. Otherwise, we will invest in younger players who have long futures," Arthur said. However, Wahab was included in the Pakistan side for the ICC Cricket World Cup and he impressed with his reverse swing, taking 11 wickets in eight games.

Following Amir's retirement and the disappointing World Cup campaign, Pakistan cricket made massive changes. On the directives of former Pakistan skipper and current Prime Minister Imran Khan, the PCB has decided to revamp its domestic structure with first-class competition now being limited to just six provincial teams while 16 regional teams will compete in division two (three-day) tournament besides the national one-day cup and T20 competitions. It has also made it mandatory for players to appear in domestic matches to qualify for the Pakistan team.

mir was involved in a fresh controversy recently and it involved social media. On Twitter, veteran Pakistan journalist Saj Sadiq had said he did not understand the big deal been made about Amir applying for a British passport as he is entitled to do so. However, one user said '(Amir) should leave the terrorist country'. Amir, who has been retweeting about cricketers talking about their times with him, apparently liked the tweet which created a major storm about Amir wanting to apply for British citizenship. However, Amir clarified when he said, "No sir by mistake I liked that tweet I was trying to like other tweet AND PROUD TO BE A PAKISTANI.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Mohammad Amir retired from Tests at the age of 27.
• Wahab Riaz is currently playing in the Canada Global T20 League.
• Wahab last played a Test against Australia in 2018 in Dubai.