'I'm seeing medium-pacers and there's no real pace' - Waqar Younis expresses concern about Pakistan's diminishing pace

In a candid assessment of Pakistan's performance in the ongoing Test series against Australia, former Pakistan cricketer Waqar Younis has expressed his concern over the noticeable absence of genuine pace in the Pakistani bowling attack.

Yunus said that the absence of fast bowlers, with only medium-pacers and allrounders in the lineup, is a departure from the traditionally expected excitement of facing express pace in Australia.

"Another thing that I'm worried about is that always when we come to Australia, one thing that excites is the fast bowling and this time around I'm not seeing that. I'm seeing medium-pacers or slow-medium-pacers, allrounders, there's no real pace. People used to come and watch Pakistan pace bowlers really running in hard and bowling 150 clicks [kph], and that's what I'm not seeing there," he said on ESPN's Around The Wicket show.

During the first Test in Perth, Pakistan's pace bowlers struggled to break the 140kph mark. Despite providing some uneasy moments for the Australian batters in the second innings, the lack of genuine speed was evident. Pakistan suffered a comprehensive defeat, losing by 360 runs and facing the additional setback of losing debutant Khurram Shahzad to a series-ending rib injury.

"That's my worry and issue because I have not seen it at the domestic level also. There are a few injured, I can understand, but in the past you would always see a battery of fast bowlers that they could always bring on, but unfortunately, that is not there and I'm really worried about that," he added.

The absence of key players like Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, coupled with concerns about Shaheen Shah Afridi's loss of pace, has left the Pakistani bowling attack struggling. Waqar emphasised the need for Afridi to address any fitness issues, stating, "I'm not really sure what's wrong with him," he said.

"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 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."

Pakistan have to make sure their fielding is spotless: Younins

Looking ahead to the next Test at the MCG, Younis underscored the importance of good fielding for Pakistan, emphasising the need to capitalise on opportunities to stay competitive against the formidable Australian side.

"Watching the first Test match was painful. We had moments, we had opportunities where we could have pulled the game back a bit but we didn't take the opportunities. When Pakistan come to Australia they have to make sure their fielding is spotless… because Australia batsmen, if you give them opportunities, they'll take it with both hands and make it big and that's what we saw in Perth," he concluded.