Monday 11 July 2016 13:45, UK
Pakistan are ready to challenge England in the forthcoming Test series, according to fast bowler Wahab Riaz.
Ahead of the first Test at Lord's on Thursday, live on Sky Sports 2, the 31-year-old left-armer spoke about giving England "a great fight" in the four-match series, the hosts' all-round threat and the tourists batting line-up.
Read on or click play on the video above for more from the Pakistan seamer…
On the Test series…
"I'm really looking forward to it. I'm ready for it and I know it's going to be a big challenge against England. It should be exciting, we've got a really good team and we will put up a great fight against England."
On England…
"I think the English team are all dangerous, you cannot name any of the batsmen or the bowlers specifically but we know how capable they are with the ball and the bat."
On Pakistan's chances…
"We've been doing really well in the last three or four years as a Test team. We have capable batsmen like Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq so we have a great batting line-up. And as a bowling unit we've got Mohammad back and we have the likes of Sohail Khan who I think will be very effective here as well."
On support…
"We're expecting a lot of support because we know there are a lot of Pakistani communities here in the UK, they're always here to support us and hopefully we won't let them down this time."
Riaz also touched upon Mohammad Amir's return to the Pakistan Test squad and how he believes the 23-year-old will cope with attention surrounding him on the tour…
On Amir's return…
"Very excited to have Mohammad Amir back in the Test squad, he's not been a part of the Pakistan team for a long time but now he's back. I'm looking forward to seeing him and hope he can do really well for Pakistan and make his name again."
On Amir handling the pressure…
"Mentally, he's very strong. He's learnt a lot of things, he's very skilful as well - he knows about his bowling and has a lot of knowledge about cricket. I think he will be able to perform really well. He's got ability but what matters is how he does here so I'm really looking forward to it."
Watch the video above to hear more of what Riaz had to say about Amir. You can see Riaz and Amir in action when Pakistan take on England in the first Test at Lord's from 10am on Thursday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD.
