Why is Wahab Riaz not playing today’s PSL 2022 match vs Quetta Gladiators?

Dixit Bhargav | 28/01/2022
Why is Wahab Riaz not playing today's PSL 2022 match vs Quetta Gladiators?

Wahab Riaz not playing: The captain of Peshawar Zalmi won’t be taking the field in their season opener at the National Stadium tonight.

During the second match of the ongoing seventh season of the Pakistan Super League between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi in Karachi, Peshawar Zalmi stand-in captain Shoaib Malik has won the toss and chose to bowl.

“We’re playing on a new strip so we would like to assess the pitch first-up and batting second helps in that regard. Plus, the dew factor is significant in the latter half of T20 games at this venue so we prefer to bowl first,” Malik told A Sports at the toss.

Peshawar Zalmi Playing 11 – 1) Tom Kohler-Cadmore 2) Yasir Khan 3) Haider Ali 4) Shoaib Malik (c) 5) Hussain Talat 6) Sherfane Rutherford 7) Ben Cutting 8) Sohail Khan 9) Pat Brown 10) Sameen Gul 11) Usman Qadir

Why is Wahab Riaz not playing vs Quetta Gladiators?

A primary reason why Malik is leading Zalmi in place of regular captain Wahab Riaz is the latter missing their season opener due to a positive COVID-19 result. Currently isolating, it will be interesting to watch when Riaz returns to lead Peshawar in PSL 2022.

While batter Haider Ali has recovered in time to play this match at the National Stadium tonight, overseas batter Hazratullah Zazai has also been tested positive for COVID-19.

Much like the opposition players, veteran Quetta Gladiators all-rounder Shahid Afridi has also tested positive for COVID-19 and is missing this match.

Quetta Gladiators Playing 11 – 1) Will Smeed 2) Ahsan Ali 3) Ben Duckett 4) Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk) 5) Iftikhar Ahmed 6) Mohammad Nawaz 7) Sohail Tanvir 8) James Faulkner 9) Ashir Qureshi 10) Mohammad Hasnain 11) Naseem Shah.

Gladiators, who had last won a PSL match against Zalmi in 2019, would be keen to finish the opposition’s winning spree against them.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
Pakistan Super League Peshawar Zalmi PSL 2022 Quetta Gladiators Shoaib Malik Wahab Riaz

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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