'Our pacers are used to bowling in home conditions' - Waqar Younis on why Pakistan fast bowlers are ineffective on away soil

Pakistan scripted a stunning victory in the two-match home Test series against South Africa as they clean-sweeped the visitors by 2-0. However, they have failed to replicate the same performance in the overseas conditions in the recent past. They had succumbed to a humiliating defeat against Australia by 0-2 followed by a 0-1 defeat against England and 0-2 against New Zealand.

Speaking about the difference in the performance of the bowlers in home and overseas conditions, Pakistan’s bowling coach Waqar Younis reckoned that their pacers are used to bowling in home conditions and feel comfortable while playing at home. Younis is confident that the players will show improvement and will perform better in overseas tours too.

“You have to bowl differently in different conditions. Since our pacers are used to bowling in home conditions, they know how to bowl in home pitches. This is not just the case with Pakistan bowlers, but bowlers all around the world perform better in their home conditions as compared to overseas. When our pacers play at home, they feel comfortable and they know how to use the conditions,” said Waqar while speaking to reporters in an online interaction on Wednesday.

“In the past, we have done well in England and have also beaten New Zealand comprehensively a decade ago. Hopefully, when we will tour overseas in future, our performances will be far better,” he added.

We have big pool of fast bowlers, so we can rotate them: Waqar Younis

Pakistan is scheduled to feature in a three-match T20I series against South Africa. However, the management is yet to take a call on which player will play how many matches as PCB is working towards managing the workload of all the players. The cricket board needs to give proper rest to the players as after the South Africa series, they will play in the PSL followed by other international outings.

“All our medical panels and trainers are keeping a close eye on Shaheen’s workload. Since PSL is coming up next and franchises want their main players to play all matches, so we will have to make a call regarding how many matches he will play against South Africa.

“Plus, there is a lot of international cricket coming up after PSL as well, so we are considering all options, but no final decision has been made regarding which bowler will play how many matches. The good thing is that we have a big pool of fast bowlers, so we can rotate them as well,” Younis concluded.