Waqar searches for pace in the team

Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis does not want the team to to rely solely on spinners on their tour of Sri Lanka.

Gul, Pakistan's most experienced fast-bowler right now, is not part of the Test & ODI squads [AP]

Pakistan coach and former captain Waqar Younis has promised to rejuvenate his country’s fast-bowling attack.

Waqar, who in May accepted the coaching job for the second time in four years, said he wanted pace to play a pivotal role in Pakistan cricket again.

“We shouldn’t just be depending on our spinners, we also need to rely on our pace bowlers,” he told reporters in Lahore on Monday.

“We have some talented pacers and they can be groomed for the future.”

As a player, Waqar formed a formidable new-ball attack with Wasim Akram, finishing with 373 Test and 416 One-Day International wickets. He and Wasim shared a total of 1705 wickets in tests and ODIs.

Sri Lanka tour

Waqar’s first assignment of his two-year contract as coach is a tour of Sri Lanka in August, where Pakistan play two Tests and three ODIs.

“Even in Sri Lanka we will not just depend on our spinners – the pace bowlers are also being prepared to do their work in those conditions. Pakistan has been blessed with some world-class pace and spin bowlers and I want to make both of them equally important for the team.”

Waqar pointed out that Pakistan has a proud history of producing fast bowlers.

“One part of my job is to groom the pace talent we have available,” he said.

In the past four years Pakistan’s dependence on its spinners – Saeed Ajmal in particular – has grown in Tests and ODIs.

In contrast, the reliance on pace has decreased since 2010 following the spot-fixing bans handed out to Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.

Source: Reuters