Out-of-favour After being appointed as the interim Punjab state sports minister, Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz entered politics while still playing cricket. After he returns to Pakistan, the left-arm fast bowler, who is now competing in the Bangladesh Premier League, will take his oath. The 37-year-old was retained by Peshawar Zalmi for this season's Pakistan Super League, and it is anticipated that he will honor his pledge to the Zalmi team despite being appointed as the sports minister.
Wahab last competed for Pakistan in 2020. He has played in 36 T20 internationals, 92 ODIs, and 27 Tests. With 103 wickets, he leads the PSL in wicket taking.
The interim Punjab Chief Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, confirmed Wahab's appointment on Friday, and the cricketer would likely keep this job till the Punjab Assembly elections are held in the ensuing three to four months.
Wahab claimed in an interview on Friday that older players like him, Shoaib Malik, and Sarfaraz Ahmed had not been treated fairly by the former chief selector Muhammad Wasim and the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ramiz Raja.
Additionally, he claimed that while knowing that Ramiz had the last say in the Pakistani team's composition, he failed to treat elders with the deference they merited.
Wahab is not the first cricketer to enter politics; Imran Khan, a former captain, is still the country's leader, while another pacer, Sarfaraz Nawaz, was elected to the National Assembly and served as the ministry of sports during the Benazir Bhutto administration in the 1990s.
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