Spooky! Wahab Riaz was asked about a crucial catch going to Rahat Ali at the World Cup
Last week, we saw Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz bowl one of the fiercest spells in the history of the World Cup against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. The spell will be remembered by most for the nasty bouncers that he bowled at Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, and by some for one dropped catch.
During the spell, a struggling Watson had top-edged a delivery which went straight down to Rahat Ali at deep fine-leg, who dropped one of the simplest chances you’ll ever see. Spookily, in an interview held before the start of the World Cup, Wahab was asked about how he’d feel if a crucial catch was going down to Ali off his bowling.
The only difference is that interviewer talks about Virat Kohli being the batsman and not Watson.
In the interview, the interviewer asks the 29-year-old: “Rahat Ali is not in the squad but imagine he comes in and you are bowling. You bowl a bouncer and Virat Kohli hits it high towards deep square leg and it's going down to Rahat. How are you feeling then?”
Wahab laughs it off at first, but then goes on to give a diplomatic answer.
“Obviously, like I said earlier, everyone works hard on their fielding. Considering it is Virat Kohli, it will be a very crucial catch. But as a team, we have to believe in each other and have faith in each other. We have developed good trust among ourselves.
“If you talk about Rahat, I’m sure that he will know the importance of the match and as a player I will know that as well. So even if the catch is dropped, we will try our best to get another opportunity,” he said.
Although the show was telecast on 21 February 2015, the interview took place a few weeks before the start of the tournament as Ali was named as a replacement for Junaid Khan on 5 February. It is clear from the conversation that it happened before Ali was named in the squad.
Watch the video below (from 26:50):