Dubai: Wahab Riaz, who is hailed as one of the finest left-arm pacers in the world, said the key to his success was aggression.
“If there is no aggression in my bowling and do not exhibit my aggression I might look like an ordinary club bowler. I may also feel like an ordinary fast bowler,” said Riaz in a freewheeling interview to Gulf News.
Riaz’s aggressive spell against Shane Watson in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final against Australia was one of the spectacular moments of the tournament. “It is my aggression which helps me and that is what really pushes me to be the best. It always motivates me and gets the best out of me.”
When asked whether he has found batsmen getting nervous due to his aggression, Riaz said: “I do feel batsmen getting nervous when I am really bowling fast. These days batsmen are not afraid of fast bowling but if you are bowling consistently at around 145 to 150 kmph the batsmen do get nervous as they don’t really get to face that kind of pace continuously. This gives me an extra edge because if a batsman is a little bit late, a second late, he may land up edging me or getting bowled or even getting hit on the pads. So against me, I have seen many batsmen getting a bit tentative and prefer to stay on the back foot when I am bowling.
“Though at times they don’t spare an opportunity to hit me, I never let go a chance to get them out too,” he added.
When asked if batsmen have been as aggressive as him and how did he manage to tackle them, the Pakistan fast bowler said: “It’s a great challenge for me when somebody is attacking me. In cricket these days many things are favourable for the batsmen. It all depends on how you bowl because batsmen will always try to come harder at you and that’s the time to show what kind of a bowler you are and what kind of variety you have in your bowling and see how they tackle it.”
Riaz named AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli as the batsmen whom he felt are the most aggressive. “I have bowled against lot of batsmen but I am really fond of AB de Villiers. I like him as a batsman and he is hard batsman to bowl at. Kohli is another exceptionally great batsman. The way he is playing cricket these days reveals he is one of the best.”
So how does he bowl to batsmen like Kohli and de Villiers? “Against these batsmen you have to be very patient, keep bowling at a length as you cannot take a chance. They are very destructive and high quality batsmen. If you bowl badly they will definitely put you away.”
Riaz was quick to accept that finding his right rhythm is when he starts attacking. “Yes. If I feel I am in rhythm with my run up then I know that it’s my day. It really makes me feel everything is pushing me towards taking wickets. It’s all about my run up and if I am running very smoothly I know it’s my day.”
To a query how has he managed to be successful on the UAE wickets, Riaz said: “Whenever I play for Pakistan, I try to give my 100 per cent. I don’t like to be a stock bowler who is trying to defend and is wanting to save runs. I always bowl to take wickets and put pressure on the batsmen. Obviously these are slow wickets but when the ball gets old it starts to reverse. On a slow wicket you have to bowl a lot of variations and keep the batsmen guessing on what is going to come next. This is the most successful way to get wickets on such tracks.”
