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File photo of Pakistan cricket team.© AFP
The fast bowlers of Pakistan have come under the scanner after their lack of pace against Australia in the first Test in Perth. Pakistan are quite restricted in terms of putting up a quality pace bowling line-up with Naseem Shah nursing an injury and Haris Rauf opting out of the ongoing three-match Test series against Australia. Without experience, the majority of the burden fell on Shan Masood‘s deputy Shaheen Shah Afridi, but even he struggled to generate pace. Criticising the left-arm pacer, Pakistan’s pace legend Waqar Younis said that if he continues like this, he will become a ‘medium pacer’.
During the first Test, Afridi averaged around 130 kmph and saw a drop to a high 120 kmph in the second innings.
“I am not really sure what is wrong with him. If he is not fit, if he has got some issues, he needs to go away from the game and fix that because if you just gonna carry on like that, you are going to become a medium pacer,” Younis told ESPNcricinfo.
“He used to bowl 145 to 150 kmph in the odd days with swing in it. What I am seeing right now is yeah there is a little bit of swing there but his pace is way down. That is not gonna get him wickets. If you not gonna get wickets in here, you are not going to get it anywhere. You got to really learn to bowl in good areas also but also you got to understand that pace is crucial,” he added.
Shaheen could scalp only two wickets in the game despite bowling 45.2 overs. Australia went on to win the game by a massive margin of 360 runs.
The second Test of the three-match series will be played on Tuesday with Australia currently one-up in the series.
(With ANI Inputs)
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