The Inside Story of Words Exchanged During Wahab Riaz's Spell Against Shane Watson

(Wahab Riaz mocking Shane Watson during the fiery spell in a World Cup match against Australia)

The 2015 ICC ODI World Cup was one of the most exciting events for the cricketing fans because of the competition that fans saw between the teams. From competitive league matches to exciting knockout matches, the fans got everything that they demanded. One such match was between Australia and Pakistan when they met each other in the 3rd Quarter-Finals of the World Cup. Being a do-or-die match, it was the last chance for both the teams to give their best and hence get to the next stage. But what followed was something else as the match is remembered because of Wahab Riaz’s iconic spell to Shane Watson that made the fans of cricket appreciate the bowling skills of the bowler who gave his everything to the team.

A Closer Look at the Words Exchanged between Wahab Riaz and Shane Watson

It was during the first innings when Pakistan was batting and things weren’t up to the mark for them as they were in a tense situation when the runs on the board were too low for them to defend on such a flat wicket. While coming out to bat, Wahab Riaz was greeted aggressively by Shane Watson. During the spell of Mitchell Starc, Wahab Riaz was finding it hard to play him and hence wasn’t able to touch the ball with his bat. To this Shane Watson asked Wahab Riaz ‘Are you holding a bat?’.

(Shane Watson found it tough to play the spell of Wahab Riaz)

This sentence was spoken with the reference of Wahab Riaz who was hardly able to touch the balls bowled by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. The All-Rounder made fun of Wahab Riaz and hence with this Wahab Riaz decided that he would be now having a go at him during the Australian innings and the same happened when Shane Watson walked out to bat during the second innings of the match.

In the interview, Wahab Riaz said

“When he came into bat, I settled the score with him. When I was batting Watson just came up to me and said ‘Are you holding a bat?’ and that was going through my mind. I let him know that even though he had a bat, he couldn’t touch the ball. I know that. he’s not good on the short ball, so it was a plan that we discussed in the team meeting.”

The iconic spell against Australia is still fresh in the minds of cricket fans as in the 11th over of the second innings, Wahab Riaz brought his best game on the field. On the fourth ball, he dismissed Michale Clarke with a bouncer and pushed Australia at the backfoot with a scoreline of 59-3. Then Shane Watson came out to bat and he was greeted by a fiery bouncer. Shane Watson wasn’t able to play that ball and Wahab Riaz went near to the batter to cheer his teammates. Coming to the next over, Wahab Riaz was again unplayable by Shane Watson as his bouncers were so close to Watson’s body.

Some balls even took the edge of Shane Watson but fell short of the fielder and hence Wahab Riaz it was frustrating for the bowler. On the first ball of the 17th over, Shane Watson finally connected the bat with the ball and it went straight to the fielder at fine leg. But, Rahat Ali dropped one of the simplest catches and Shane Watson survived. The reaction of Wahab Riaz screaming in disappointment summed up Pakistan's day and on commentary, the line “Rahat... you just dropped the World Cup!!!” started coming up.

Talking about this spell, Shane Watson said that

“Wahab Riaz went absolutely crazy, bouncing the living daylights out of me, he bowled super accurately and he kept bouncing me. It was very silly and naive of me that I didn’t realise 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 realise he could bowl that fast so once I got out there, I got absolutely peppered. I look back at that moment, that was a very special moment to be part of, even though it was super uncomfortable. He got on top of me, I got dropped at fine leg, but yeah, worked out really well in the end."

Australia claimed the Quarter-Finals by 6 wickets

On 20th March 2015, Australia played the 3rd Quarter-Finals against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval. Being the winners of the toss, Pakistan went to bat first because of the pitch being flat and opted to put the runs first on the board. However, the team faltered at the start and lost Sarfaraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shahzad at the start with the score being 2-24 in 5.1 overs. Now, Haris Sohail and Misbah-ul-Haq stitched a 73-run partnership and took the score to 97-2 in 23.1 overs. But what followed after that was a collapse from the Pakistan team as they started losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for just 213 runs in 49.5 overs. From the Australian team, it was Josh Hazlewood who registered figures of 4/35 in his 10 overs.

Australia vs Pakistan, 3rd Quarter-Final at Adelaide, Mar 20 2015, ICC Cricket World Cup
Pakistan	Australia
213 (49.5 overs)	216/4 (33.5 overs)
Haris Sohail 41 (57)	Steve Smith 65 (69)
Josh Hazlewood 4/35 (10 overs)	Wahab Riaz 2/54 (9 overs)
Australia won by 6 wickets

Coming to the Australian innings, they also got off to a poor start as the side lost Aaron Finch early with the score of 15-1 in 2.3 overs of the game. And in the 9th over, it was the turn of Wahab Riaz who dismissed David Warner and after that, Michael Clarke to get the scorecard at 59-3 in just 10.4 overs. But it was Steve Smith who stood at one end to stabilise the innings and he scored 65 runs from just 69 balls to get Australia back into the game. He was dismissed in the 27th over with the scorecard at 148-4. Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell got a 68-run partnership to seal off the win for Australia and they entered the Semi-Finals of the World Cup.

(Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell celebrating after hitting the winning runs against Pakistan)

It was the spell of Wahab Riaz that brought Pakistan back into the game and the way they fought was commendable. Moreover, the fans even today claim that if Rahat Ali had caught Watson at the boundary, then Pakistan would have qualified for the next stage of the World Cup. But, the game is much more than ifs and buts now.