Legends came and went, the team's performances evolved, but one thing that stayed constant over the years for the Pakistan men's national cricket outfit was the ready availability of seriously fast bowlers. It is one area where the Men In Green always used to score over India. And so, when things seem to have changed, it has caused Waqar Younis - one of the greatest speedsters the country has produced - to voice his concerns. (Cricket News)
Waqar has lamented the lack of pace in Pakistan's Test bowling attack amid the ongoing series Down Under. During the first Test match in Perth, Pakistan's seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad and Faheem Ashraf rarely went past the 140kph mark - something that used to almost be a given with the country's pacers.
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"When we come to Australia, one thing that excites is the fast bowling and this time around I'm not seeing that," Waqar said on ESPN's Around The Wicket show. "I'm seeing medium-pacers or slow-medium-pacers, all-rounders, there's no real pace. People used to come and watch Pakistan pace bowlers really running in hard and bowling 150 clicks [kph], and that's what I'm not seeing there," he added.
"That's my worry and issue because I have not seen it at the domestic level also. There are a few injured, I can understand, but in the past you would always see a battery of fast bowlers that they could always bring on, but unfortunately that is not there and I'm really worried about that," the legendary fast bowler, who was renowned for his banana-swininging yorkers, explained.
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Waqar was concerned about Afridi's form in particular. The left-arm speedster picked up two wickets and went for 172 runs in Perth. "I'm not really sure what's wrong with him (Afridi)," Waqar said.
"If he's not fit, if he's got some issues, he needs to go away from the game and fix that because if you are going to carry on like that you are going to become a medium-pacer. He used to bowl 145-150kph and used to swing that ball. What I'm seeing now, yes there's a little bit of swing but his pace is way down… and that is not going to get him wickets," he added.
"Watching the first Test match was painful. We had moments, we had opportunities where we could have pulled the game back a bit but we didn't take the opportunities. When Pakistan come to Australia they have to make sure their fielding is spotless… because Australia batsmen, if you give them opportunities, they'll take it with both hands and make it big and that's what we saw in Perth," Waqar further said.
