Waqar Younis confident about Pakistan's chances in the series

Waqar Younis feels Pakistan will come back strongly in the second Test

Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis has stated that Pakistan will bounce back from their near loss in the first Test against England, reports TOI. The former fast bowler added that even though he was relieved at having avoided a defeat, he was proud of his team’s recent performance.

“Yes, it’s a big relief not being 0-1 down and I am confident that my side will bounce back,” Waqar said. “Before the series started it was their (England) own verdict that they were underdogs but now we are the side which have to stage a comeback.”

Pakistan started off well in the first innings posting a mammoth 523-8 before declaring their innings. In reply, England fought back in style, lead by Cook’s double ton, torturing the Pakistani bowlers, and even surpassed their score, before declaring at 598-9. Cook scored an epic 263 and went on to record the longest innings by an English batsman, after batting close to 830 minutes.

Waqar hailed the England team and praised their bowling performance in the second innings after Pakistan were bowled out for 173 thus setting up a target of 99 for the visitors – one which they fell 25 short off as bad light stopped play on the final day.

“Credit to England, the way they set the field and put pressure on our batsmen on the last day. That’s the right tactic as they surpassed our total in the first innings and their leg-spinner bowled well and our batsmen committed some silly mistakes”, he said. “If you look at the overall picture then yes it’s a relief. But that’s not the way to finish a Test match. I have always been proud of my Test team. We have played well as a Test team for some time now and have always put up a good fight in a constructive way.”

Off late, Pakistan have produced good results in the Test format, winning 3 out of the four series they have played, and drawing one. They beat Australia 2-0, drew 1-1 against New Zealand, beat Bangladesh 1-0 and won 2-1 in Sri Lanka. The coach felt that the team needed to continue that form and blamed the batting unit for their second innings slump.

“In the last three years we have been performing well in the Tests but, unfortunately, that was missing in our game. They shouldn’t have come that close. It’s unacceptable to bat like we did in the second innings. It should have been a straightforward draw, but we allowed them to threaten us and (almost) beat us,” he said.

“Now we would be going as the team which needed more work. The way they (England) played we have to really pull our socks (up) in the second Test”, he said.

The former cricketer was not too critical of the pitch and felt that the match could have been an interesting one even in the first four days had both teams capitalised on the chances that came their way.

“Yes, in a way it (the pitch) left us disappointed but I don’t want to criticise the pitch. If you consider the chances which both the sides got, the dropped catches from both the sides, and had those been grabbed it could have been a different Test match,” Waqar said.