Pacer Wahab Riaz appointed caretaker minister in Punjab

Wahab Riaz, the incredible Pakistani cricketer, has been named as a caretaker sports minister of Punjab on Thursday.

Governor Baligh Ur Rehman administered the oath ceremony to the newly-appointed cabinet members held at the Governor's House in Lahore.

Out of the 11 cabinet members, eight ministers — Bilal Afzal, SM Tanveer, Dr Javed Akram, Ibrahim Murad, Dr Jamal Nasir, Mansoor Qadir, Syed Azfar Ali Nasir and Amir Mir — took the oath, while three others — Wahab Riaz, Tamkinat Karim and Naseem Sadiq — couldn't attend the ceremony.

Riaz, who is currently playing for Khulna Tigers in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2023, will take over as the largest province's sports minister in due time, he confirmed to Geosuper.tv.

The left-arm bowler has taken 237 wickets for Pakistan in 156 international games across all formats. It is pertinent to mention here that the 37-year-old bowler was a member of the national team that won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

In 2019, the star pacer took an indefinite break from red-ball cricket.

Riaz had said: “After reviewing my past couple of years’ performances in red-ball cricket and the upcoming limited-overs cricket, I have decided to take time off from first-class cricket.

"During this period, I will like to focus on 50-over and 20-over cricket, and continue to access my fitness for the longer version of the game. At a stage I feel I cannot only return but also perform with the red ball, I would make myself available,” he had added.