Waqar Younis: “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”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis believes left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi’s wickets will dry up if he doesn’t rectify his falling bowling speed.
Afridi’s drop in pace was highly noticeable during the three-match Test series against Australia, where he finished with eight wickets in two matches at an average of 41.62.
Waqar noted that Afridi used to bowl between 145 and 150 kph, and pointed out that if the 23-year-old doesn’t return to those speeds, he will not be as successful as he once was.
“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 said on ESPN’s Around The Wicket show as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Afridi is currently captaining Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and has picked up seven wickets in four games at an average of 21.85.
The men in green are 4-0 down and will look to avoid being whitewashed in the fifth T20I, which will be held on January 21 in Christchurch.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan