Waqar Younis: “Maybe we took Sri Lanka lightly in [the] T20Is because we won [the] ODIs easily. Plus we brought some players back and they couldn’t perform”

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Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis has admitted that the national team underestimated Sri Lanka in their T20 series last October.

Pakistan were facing Sri Lanka on home soil as all three T20s were held in Lahore.

However, the men in green failed to win a single match and were whitewashed 3-0, much to everyone’s surprise many of Sri Lanka’s key players pulled out of the tour due to security concerns.

In addition to taking Sri Lanka lightly, Waqar noted that some of the Pakistan players recalled for the series failed to have an impact, such as batsmen Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad.

Akmal scored ducks in both the games he played, while Shehzad accumulated 17 runs in two matches at an average of 8.50.

“Maybe we took Sri Lanka lightly in [the] T20Is because we won [the] ODIs easily. Plus we brought some players back and they couldn’t perform,” Waqar was quoted as saying by PakPassion. “Due to these mixed reasons, we got thrashed badly by Sri Lanka and it was an eye opener for us.

“After that, Misbah and all realized where we want to go in future and how we will deal with future series. So hopefully we fare better in future.”

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