"If he's got some issues, he needs to go away from the game and fix that" - Waqar Younis expresses concern over Shaheen Afridi's form

Pakistan's legendary pacer Waqar Younis has expressed concern over Shaheen Afridi's loss of pace ahead of Pakistan's second Test of the three-match away from home series against Australia.

Younis pointed out that Shaheen used to bowl at 145-150 kph in his prime, but has looked like a pale shadow of his glorious past in recent outings. He also urged the left-arm seamer to take a break from cricket if he is not completely fit.

Speaking about Shaheen's performance in the Test series opener against Australia at Perth, here's what Waqar Younis said on the ESPN show Around The Wicket:

"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 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."

The onus was on pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi to deliver the goods in the first Test at Perth. However, he struggled to get going and finished with just two wickets.

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"There's no real pace" - Waqar Younis on Pakistan's fast bowling lineup

Waqar Younis seemed unimpressed by the performance of the Pakistani pacers in the Perth Test, where the visitors suffered an embarrassing 360-run defeat after being bundled out for 89 in the fourth innings. Speaking about how the bowlers failed to generate express pace in the fixture, he said:

"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."

Pointing out the lack of depth in Pakistan's fast bowling unit, Waqar Younis suggested that there aren't any exciting prospects even at the domestic level, adding:

"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."

Australia gained a 1-0 lead following their comprehensive victory in Perth. The second Test will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne from December 26-30.