“Bowling attacks in PSL are best”: Wahab Riaz compares bowling attacks in IPL and PSL

Wahab Riaz compares IPL and PSL: The Pakistani fast bowler highlighted the positive points from both the renowned T20 leagues.

Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz believes that one can’t draw out comparisons between the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League taking into consideration all the factors as the IPL is at a “different level”.

“IPL is a league where all the top international players come and play. You can’t compare IPL with PSL, I believe IPL is at a different level. Their commitments, the way they run things, communicate things, the way they draft the players, all that is totally different. I don’t think any league can compete with the IPL,” Riaz was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

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Riaz, 35, has never played in the IPL but has not just represented Peshawar Zalmi but also led them in the PSL. In 59 PSL T20s, Riaz has picked 84 wickets at an average of 18.73, an economy rate of 7.19 and a strike rate of 15.6 to be the highest wicket-taker by a comfortable margin in Pakistan’s premier T20 competition.

Wahab Riaz compares IPL and PSL

Being asked about the second-best T20 league in the world, Riaz didn’t shy away from naming the PSL primarily because of its “high bowling standards”. Riaz further added that the PSL betters the IPL when it comes to bowling standards.

“But if there is any league that stands behind it, it has to be the PSL. The league in Pakistan has proved it. The standards of bowling are quite high.

“The kind of bowlers you get in the PSL is not found in other leagues, not even the IPL. This is why PSL doesn’t have many high-scoring games. The bowling attacks in PSL are the best in the world,” Riaz added.

In his 16-year old T20 career, Riaz has dismissed 324 batsmen at an average of 21.76, an economy rate of 7.31 and a strike rate of 17.8 to be the ninth-highest wicket-taker in the format. It was only earlier this week that ESPNcricinfo had published that Riaz is the highest T20 wicket-taker to have not played in the IPL.

Had it not been for the political tension between India and Pakistan, a left-arm fast bowler in Riaz would’ve surely had an IPL stint in addition to playing for Kent Spitfires, Surrey Lions, Essex Eagles, Barbados Tridents, Derbyshire Falcons, Comilla Victorians, Cape Town Blitz and Dhaka Platoon in the T20 circuit.