However, for the past few years, Riaz hasn’t been consistent and failed to cement his place in the team. He last played international cricket in December 2020 during the tour of New Zealand. This year he wasn’t even considered for home as well as away series against South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The left-armer has so far played 27 Tests, 91 ODIs and 36 T20Is, and taken 83, 120 and 34 wickets, respectively. But who, according to the Lahore-born, is the most challenging batsmen he has ever bowled to? Well, in a rapid-fire round with Cricket Pakistan, Riaz revealed the name of a batsman he found toughest to bowl to.
The 35-year-old did not name Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson or Joe Root. He instead went with former South Africa captain and arguably one of the finest modern-day batters AB de Villiers.
De Villiers puzzled several top-quality bowlers in his glorious cricketing career. His dextrous batting, fantastic power-hitting, exceptional ability to hit humungous sixes and innovation of fresh and unique shots has made him a legendary batsman.
De Villiers hung his boots from all the formats of the game in 2018. He ended his international ODI career with 9577 runs with a spectacular tally of 25 centuries. In the longest format, the right-handed batsman scored 8765 runs with the help of 22 hundreds.
Some other questions that Riaz answered:
1. Question – Whose phone call will you pick – Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma?
Answer – Virat Kohli
2. Question – Favourite PSL team other than Zalmi?
Answer – Quetta Gladiators
3. Question – Your favourite holiday destination?
Answer – England
4. Question – Role Model in cricket?
Answer – Wasim Akram
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