Pakistan Test paceman Wahab Riaz, who has been out of action since Oct 10, is likely to test out his knee in National Bank’s fifth-round Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Gold League fixture against Karachi Dolphins starting here on Thursday.
According to the latest PCB health bulletin sent a few days ago, Wahab has made impressive improvement following an extensive rehabilitation work under the supervision of Dr Sohail Saleem who has found the 29-year-old left-armer bowling and bowling with any signs of pain during special sessions at the National Cricket Academy.
The match at the National Stadium would probably give Wahab — who bowled just 14 deliveries in the second One-day International against Australia in Dubai before pulling up injured — a chance to prove his fitness.
If Wahab does turns out for National Bank, who are currently in fifth place 13 points behind leaders Wapda (35 points), it will be first appearance in a first-class game since the second Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo’s SSC Ground in August.
The Dolphins, still feeling the anguish of their heartbreaking loss against Wapda by three wickets last Sunday, are not helped by the poor form of their skipper Rameez Raja.
The discarded international has mustered mere 83 runs from eight innings in the championship in contrast to the excellent batting of opener Fazal Subhan (530 runs) and Saad Ali (335). According to sources in the team, Rameez has been asked to sit out the upcoming match even though the Dolphins would also be missing Saad who played for Pakistan ’A’ against New Zealand in three-day game in Sharjah that concluded on Wednesday.
After their close shave against the Dolphins, Wapda will find Islamabad Leopards another tough proposition in the encounter at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.
Second-placed United Bank will travel to Multan where they face Multan Tigers, who like Lahore Lions, have been unable to prevent their previous four opponents from winning against them. A fifth Tigers defeat is very much on the cards.
