Islamabad
Pakistani veteran-pacer Wahab Riaz has revealed that he was under-pressure while featuring in the third and final Twenty20 against England in Manchester, as it was the first match of the tour for him.
Wahab took 2 wickets for 26 runs in the third T20 against England which Pakistan won by 5 runs.
The 35-year-old, who took 32 wickets in as many T20s, said the entire team wanted to win the third and final T20 against England in order to end the tour on a high.
“I was under pressure while playing the third T20 against England. I had a lot on my mind. It was the result of two months of consistent hard work.
The entire team wanted to win the last match and end the tour with a victory. I am happy that my performance helped the team,” Riaz said in an interview with cricketer Kamran Akmal on YouTube as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.
“It was the first match of the tour for me. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t under pressure. I had a lot of questions in my head. I gave it my best effort.
Whatever the situation, I never shy away from hard work and then I get rewarded for it,” Wahab said, who grabbed 115 wickets in 89 ODIs.
The speedster, who has bagged 83 wickets in 27 Tests, said it was hard to come back into rhythm after a four-month gap.
“When we started training on the England tour, it felt like we had never played before. It seemed hard to come back into rhythm after not playing for four months.
The team management didn’t put too much pressure on the players in the start. The intensity of the training was raised as time went on and we were ready before our first match,” he said.—APP
