AUS vs PAK | Mohammed Abbas still 'main man' for Pakistan, believes Waqar Younis
Although Mohammed Abbas was dropped from the team for the Brisbane Test, Waqar Younis held the opinion that Mohammed Abbas is still very much in the scheme of things. The decision to play rookie Imran Khan ahead of acclaimed Abbas has attracted widespread criticism and surprise from Pakistan fans.
A year ago, Mohammed Abbas's success in the dry UAE wickets brought him a lot of accolades with none other than Dale Steyn tweeting, "I see a new number one Test bowler coming… Mohammad Abbas". It was the ultimate validation from one of the greatest pace bowlers the world has ever seen and rightfully so, Abbas reached the third position among the bowlers. However, in a move that no one saw coming, he was dropped from the Gabba Test, with the management going with the trio of Imran Khan, Nayeem Shah, and Shaheen Afridi.
"Mohammad Abbas has been a match-winner for us over the last 18 months, he's been bowling really well. Unfortunately, he's not at his best rhythm and recently back in the New Zealand tour he had an injury so he wasn't bowling as good as he has done in the past against Australia and of course in England. But we're not losing hope in him, he's our main man and we're going to have a really close look and hopefully, once we get into Adelaide we'll think about it," Waqar said, reported Cricinfo.
"It's a decision that depends on the head coach and the selectors on who'll play and who won't. But it would be an injustice against Imran Khan to say that his selection was unjustified. His performance in first-class cricket has been great and so too in the warm-up game in Perth. He was bowling well. But unfortunately, he couldn't do the same here."
With David Warner and Steve Smith back in the Australian team for the first home series after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, Pakistan needed a strong bowling unit to skittle out the opposition. However, looking at the eventual scoreboard, it is natural to assume that it was an opportunity lost. Waqar, however, believes that the tour is going to be a lesson in itself for the young Pakistani unit.
"You can learn from your opposition always. Naseem is only 16 don't forget. Even Shaheen Shah is a teenager. Of course, they're going to learn a lot from this tour, going further into their careers. I'm very hopeful that these guys and the likes of Muhammad Musa and Mohammad Hasnain. They are the future of Pakistan cricket. All we need is time. We all need to give them time and hope that they learn in the next year or so and they'll be a force.
"It's difficult to say what was going wrong out there. We sit down every evening and we talk about it and try to teach them what lengths need to be bowled. I think we missed it. It was very obvious and everyone has seen that our lengths weren't right. With the first new-ball, we bowled poorly. If we would have put the ball in the right areas, things might have been different. We got carried away and with a young attack, it can happen in Australia.
"We have to be very careful with Naseem Shah. He's very, very young and we have to manage him well because he bowls very quick. You don't want to put too much load on him, be careful with him. He is the future for Pakistan. We have to use him sensibly and I thought that's what the captain did. He's a wicket-taker. It was just his first Test match."
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