Srinagar: Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz who is currently playing in Bangladesh Premier League has ben named as caretaker Sports Minister of Punjab in Pakistan. Riaz is likely take his oath of office once he returns home.
His appointment was notified by the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi, and he is set to hold the position until provincial elections are hosted in Punjab, likely to take place in April.
In Pakistan, a caretaker government is established upon the dissolution of assemblies in the lead-up to provincial and national elections. The caretaker government oversees elections, and ministers holding caretaker posts are appointed rather than elected. Wahab does not have overtly political affiliations or administrative experience, though his late father-in-law and Naqvi were prominent members of Lahore’s business community.
Wahab plays for Peshawar Zalmi and, until this year, captained the side, before Babar Azam’s move to the 2017 champions saw him take over the captaincy. He was retained in the Diamond category by Zalmi, a downgrade from his erstwhile Platinum status.
He is all-time leading wicket-taker in the PSL with 103, Hasan Ali a distant second with 81.
Wahab, 37, last played international cricket for Pakistan in 2020, playing 27 Tests, 91 ODIs and 36 T20Is in all, taking 237 wickets across formats.