"Wahab Riaz went absolutely crazy, shouldn't have sledged him," Shane Watson recalls

Wahab Riaz went after the Australian all-rounder in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final.

Shane Watson and Wahab Riaz | News Corp Australia

Shane Watson and Wahab Riaz's epic battle in the quarter-final of World Cup 2015 became one of the highlights of the tournament. The Australia batsman had sledged Wahab which fired him up and what followed after that was a treat for cricket fans, but not for Watson.

The Pakistan speedster had bowled probably his best spell in ODI cricket as he nearly blew off Watson's head with the fiery deliveries. He was dedicated to bother the Aussie batters as much as possible in an important game.

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Taking questions from fans on Instagram, Watson recalled the moment and called it one of the most special outings for him but he didn't enjoy it all.

“Wahab Riaz went absolutely crazy, bouncing the living daylights out of me, he bowled super accurate and he kept bouncing me,” Watson said about the match.

“It was very silly and naive of me that I didn’t realize that Wahab Riaz could bowl that fast. I said something to him – because he kept playing and missing Mitchell Starc – so I ran past him and said, ‘Have you got a hole in your bat? Because you just keep missing the ball.’ And again, I didn’t realize he could bowl that fast so once I got out there, I got absolutely peppered,” he said.

But eventually, Wahab couldn't get Watson out and the Australia batsman remained not-out on 64 as they won the match to advance to the semi-final. Match referee had fined 50 percent of Riaz's and 15 percent of Watson's match fees. 

 
 

By - 01 Aug, 2020

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