Waqar Younis: “I’m not really sure what’s wrong with him. 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”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic Pakistan speedster Waqar Younis is concerned about Shaheen Shah Afridi’s drop in pace, saying the spearhead of the bowling attack is in danger of becoming a “medium pacer.”
Afridi’s bowling speed was brought into the spotlight during the three-match Test series against Australia as he wasn’t close to the 145 to 150 kph he had been clocked at in the past.
Waqar admitted he doesn’t know if the 23-year-old is unfit or dealing with some other issues, but noted that whatever problem he is having needs to be rectified right away.
“I’m not really sure what’s wrong with him. 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 said on ESPN’s Around The Wicket show as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
In the Test series against Australia, Afridi took eight wickets in two matches at an average of 41.62.
He then captained Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and claimed nine wickets at an average of 19.22 and an economy rate of 8.94.
Despite doing well with the ball, the men in green were beaten 4-1.
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