From Shaheen to Naseem and Hasan, legendary Waqar Younis discusses Pakistan's pace battery

National team's bowling coach Waqar Younis is considered an authority on pace and all that comes with it.

So naturally, his remarks on Pakistan's young pace battery should be of interest to those who crave express pace, toe-crushing yorkers and head-high bouncers.

In an interview with PakPassion, Waqar discussed several fast bowling options in the national pool. Here are the most relevant bits from the interview:

'Fitness number one priority for smart Shaheen Afridi'

Waqar said that Shaheen Shah Afridi has worked hard on his fitness but now needs to concentrate on hitting the right lines on a more consistent basis.

"Fitness is the number one priority and in the last few months Shaheen has worked really hard and that’s why you are seeing him bowling long spells as he was doing in Australia and against Sri Lanka. We are taking care of his recovery time in between matches," he said. 

"Shaheen is a smart cricketer, and what he needs to do is to put the ball in the right place on a regular basis, not every now and then. He’s learning quickly."

'Naseem Shah is fragile — emotionally and physically'

Waqar pointed out the fragile state of Naseem Shah, adding that the teenager needs to be handled with care.

"He’s a little fragile at the moment which is understandable due to his sad loss. We have to remember that he had a couple of stress fractures in his back at a young age and he therefore sometimes needs a bit more nurturing and an arm around his shoulder as he does worry about his back at times," he said. 

"At the moment we don’t want him to be bowling long spells of 7 or 8 overs, we want him bowling short, quick spells and spells which won’t reduce his pace. His pace is crucial for his development and we don’t want that to reduce and that is why we are nurturing him carefully." 

'Mohammad Hasnain not ready for 50-over cricket'

Waqar said that Mohammad Hasnain needs to work hard on his fitness and is currently too raw to be exposed to the rigours of ODI cricket.

"He is another youngster who needs to work on his fitness levels and I am sure once he is fitter and given the skills he possesses, he will trouble a lot of batsmen around the world," he said.

"I feel he’s probably not ready for playing in the 50-over format just yet, where he will be required to bowl 10 overs. He’s a young man who can bowl 150Kph and we don’t want him to lose that ability. 

"Hasnain is very much in our plans and our aim is to have a pack of pace-bowlers available to us, all of them fit, all of them available and ready. We would like to use them accordingly and based on where we are playing and keep them fresh." 

Ready to work with 'smart, aggressive' Haris Rauf 

Waqar, however, was left impressed by Lahore Qalandars and Melbourne Stars pacer Haris Rauf.

"He possesses pace, he’s a smart bowler who is aggressive which I really like about him and I’m really glad that he has done well at the Big Bash League. He’s a strong lad, who has been working very hard on his fitness and he bowls a really good slower-ball," he said. 

"I’ve spoken to Misbah-ul-Haq about him and we are thinking about bringing him into our pack of pace bowlers, working with him and hopefully we can push him into the Pakistan team soon.

'Exhausted' Hasan Ali has lost pace

Waqar said that injured Hasan Ali is paying the price of playing non-stop cricket over a two-year period.

"He played a lot of cricket in a two-year period without much rest. He has lost some pace and of course, on top of that, he has had some injury problems," he said. 

"His bowling action is a very open-chested action which is hard on the ribs and the back. He’s an asset when fit and firing on all cylinders. He’s a bundle of energy on the field, a good fielder and I’m looking forward to having him back." 

The full interview can be read here.