Wahab Riaz's top 3 spells in the ODI World Cup

Wahab Riaz, one of Pakistan's finest bowlers, today announced his retirement from the international scene in a bid to focus on franchise leagues around the world. Riaz, 38, made his international debut against Zimbabwe in 2008 and has since represented his country 154 times across formats.

He has bagged 237 wickets for Pakistan, and while he has played in all three formats, his best returns came in the ODI format. Riaz was an important part of the ODI setup and has also been a part of three 50-over World Cups.

He was a part of Pakistan's squad in 2011, 2015, and 2019 and delivered some fine performances on the big stage.

On that note, here's a look at his Top 3 performances in the 50-over World Cup:

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#3 4-45 vs Zimbabwe (Brisbane, 2015)

Riaz was phenomenal against Zimbabwe, both with bat and ball

In a game between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at the Gabba during the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan had a rough day with the bat as they could only manage to score 235 runs in the first innings. 54 runs out of those came from the bat of Wahab Riaz, who stood up for his team when they needed it the most.

Mohammad Irfan got Pakistan off to a good start, but Zimbabwe's bankable batter Brendan Taylor was well-set on 50 before Riaz got rid of him. He also picked up the big wickets of Craig Ervine and skipper Elton Chigumbura.

He also dismissed Tawanda Mupariwa and was later involved in a run-out as the Pakistanis managed to scrape through by 20 runs. Riaz was quite deservingly adjudged the player-of-the-match for his all-round contributions.

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#2 5-46 vs India (Mohali, 2011)

Riaz picked up 5 wickets in the big semi-final against India in Mohali

Against India in the big semi-final of the 2011 World Cup, Wahab Riaz delivered one of his best performances. He picked up a five-wicket haul, which enabled Pakistan to restrict the Indians to a total of 260.

He bagged the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, and Zaheer Khan. His 5-46 choked India in the middle overs and left them with no momentum for the majority of the inning.

India eventually won the game thanks to some fine bowling and some equally poor batting by Pakistan. Still, Wahab's brilliance on that day left fans and pundits in awe and will forever be remembered as one of the best displays in a World Cup.

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#1 2-54 vs Australia (Adelaide, 2015)

Wahab Riaz gave Australia a scare with his pace and bounce

Wahab Riaz's figures in the game against Australia in the 2015 World Cup will never justify just how brilliantly he bowled in that game. Pakistan could only manage to score 213 in the first innings and had a tough task at hand in the second.

However, they started really well, restricting the Aussies to 59-3. Wahab Riaz picked up the massive scalps of David Warner and skipper Michael Clarke.

Australia eventually chased the total down quite easily, but Riaz's phenomenal performance gave Pakistan hope and Australia a scare. His dual against Shane Watson will forever be remembered as one of the best in the history of the game.

Riaz had Watson at sea thanks to his pace and bounce. "Wahab Riaz went absolutely crazy, bouncing the living daylights out of me; he bowled super accurately, and he kept bouncing me", Watson said a few years after the battle.