Waqar hopes Pak team will perform outstandingly to win T20 series against South Africa

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket teams bowling coach Waqar Younis has expressed the hope that Pakistan team will show consistency by putting up combined efforts to win the T20 series against South Africa.

“ The touring South African side is a international team , a big name in world cricket , it is not a B or C team and we will not be taking them lightly and rather doing our best to win the three match series “, he told media men during an online press conference on the eve of first T20.

He urged the team members to live up to the expectations by displaying impressive form in the shortest version of the game to achieve desired result.

“Our 2-0 win in test series was the result of combined team efforts and mainly due to the superb performance of our pace battery and I look forward to a similar performance in T20 games for success“, said Pak teams bowling coach.

He said, he anticipates thrilling cricket during the T20 series between worlds two best teams.

Waqar said green shirt pacers will put up impressive performance in the T20 matches as they have the home conditions advantage and playing at home is always an added advantage for the home players to get maximum benefit from the conditions.

He expressed the hope that Pak pace bowlers will perform to a higher lever in away tours as well, the way they are performing at home. He said our pacers are used to bowling in home conditions but hoped that they will improve and deliver in away tours too.

Waqar said: "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."

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, Waqar said their pacers are used to bowling in home conditions and feel comfortable while playing at home. "I am confident that the players will show improvement and will perform better in overseas tours too. 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.

The men in green will take on Proteas in the three-match T20I series here at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore from tomorrow (Thursday).

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 PCB 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.

On this, Waqar said: “All our medical panels and trainers are keeping a close eye on Shaheen’s workload.

Since the 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.

“While 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,” Waqar asserted.