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'No Real Pace' - Waqar Younis Slams Shaheen Afridi And Co. For Losing Steam In Australia

image-lqi5cofzShaheen Afridi returned with disappointing figures in Perth (x.com) 

Former Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis has berated team’s current bowling attack for their lackluster returns against Australia at Perth, and even claimed that senior man Shaheen Afridi has lost his pace.

Younis further stated that he can only see medium pacers or slow-medium pacers in the current Pakistan line-up, considering the ‘Men in Green’ bowlers have not been clicking 150 kph this time around in Australian conditions.


Waqar urges Shaheen Afridi to sort out pace issue

Assessing Pakistan’s performance in the first Test at Perth, former ‘Men in Green’ captain Waqar Younis claimed that the current Pakistan fast bowling unit does not have the same fire as they had on previous tours ‘Down Under’.

He even stated that the team, under Shan Masood, is filled with either medium pacers or all-rounders as the bowlers have not been able to breach the 150 kph mark. 

"Another thing that I'm worried about is that always when we come to Australia, one thing that excites is the fast bowling and this time around I'm not seeing that. I'm seeing medium-pacers or slow-medium-pacers, allrounders, there's no real pace," Younis said while speaking on an ESPNCricinfo show. 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."

Waqar Younis also slammed senior paceman Shaheen Afridi for losing steam on Australian wickets, and urged the cricketer to sort out his issues or he will soon become a medium pacer himself.

"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."

In hindsight, Shaheen Afridi picked up just two wickets across both innings of the Perth Test and leaked 172 runs from his end.

Pakistan, under new skipper Shan Masood, eventually crashed to a 360-run defeat to go 0-1 down in the three-match series. The visitors will now face Australia in their must-win second Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) between December 26 and December 30. 

The series also constitute a part of the ongoing 2023-25 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.