Pakistan will click even without Irfan, says Waqar

ADELAIDE, Australia: It doesn’t come naturally for Waqar Younis to admit his mistakes.
He didn’t see anything wrong with his and the team management’s decision to keep overlooking Sarfraz Ahmed even as Nasir Jamshed continued to misfire.
And now he is refusing to admit that a heavy workload could have been the reason for Mohammad Irfan’s pelvic stress fracture that ruled Pakistan’s spearhead out of the World Cup just days before their quarter-final clash against Australia.
“It’s unfortunate that we lost Irfan just at the wrong time,” Waqar told reporters here at Adelaide Oval ahead of Friday’s last eight clash.
“It’s a huge loss. He was an X factor for us but we have got to live with it.”
The injury-prone Irfan was made to play all of Pakistan’s first five World Cup games – including three in seven days — before he missed the sixth and last Pool B game against Ireland here last Sunday because of injury.
Later, it was diagnosed following detailed scans that Irfan had a stress fracture in his pelvis and could be out of international cricket for a long time.
But Waqar rejected the idea that playing too many matches could have played a role in Irfan’s injury.
“We have done MRIs, CTs and there is a chance that his injury could have happened a long time before, so we can’t say that it happened two days ago, it’s not easy for us, but we have to cope with it,” he said.
Irfan’s ouster comes as a huge loss for Pakistan but Waqar was confident that his pace battery will click even in the absence of the towering pacer.
Many believe that Irfan should be replaced by leggie Yasir Shah but Waqar isn’t sure.
“It’s not an easy decision. We haven’t decided anything yet. I’m pleased with how our fast bowlers have bowled in the tournament. The whole bunch is putting together a good show.”
The former Test pacer said that a final decision on Yasir will be taken after a detailed inspection of the pitch.
“The Yasir issue is being discussed. We will look at the pitch and if it’s conducive for spinners then we will see,” he said.
Pakistan may have won their last four games but apart from the likes of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s batting line-up hasn’t really fired.
Is Waqar worried whether his fragile batting will stand up to Australia’s potent bowling attack?
“We cannot worry too much now. We have to go out and do the best we can,” he said.
“We haven’t scored many hundreds like the other sides. But the guys are doing their job. If the batsmen are not scoring runs then the bowlers are doing the job.
“It was good to see Sarfraz getting a hundred in the last game. It was good to see Ahmed Shehzad getting some runs. It was good to see batsmen scoring runs in a pressure game against Ireland and now we are looking forward to the quarter-finals.
Waqar refused to pinpoint any weakness in the Australian line-up that his team was planning to target.
“More than their weaknesses we have to look at our strengths. We have to see what we can do better. We are aware that Australians play aggressive cricket and we have to match that.”
He predicted that the Adelaide Oval wicket will help produce a good match.
“If we look around Australia then this is probably the best pitch. It is more conducive for batting. Teams have scored 400 and big three hundreds. But if you are a good bowler and put the ball in the right areas then the faster bowler can get quite a bit out of it.”
Waqar hailed Wahab Riaz, who has established himself as one of the front-ranked bowlers in the tournament.
“Wahab’s action is his strength and his pace also helps as he bowls at around 150. Anybody who bowls over 145 are pretty difficult to face in this World Cup. There is pace in Australia and little bit of bounce and that helps fast bowlers”.
The likes of Umar Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood have so far failed to live up to expectations but Waqar is confident that they will deliver the goods.
“We all see that they are very talented. There must be some pressure on them. But we are banking on them and we try to keep them motivated and I’m hopeful that they will deliver against Australia.”
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi is having a quiet World Cup but Waqar is hopeful that he will fire against the Aussies.
“Our fast bowlers have been doing well and now we need Afridi to come to the party. A good show is due on him and I’m hopeful that he will deliver in the quarter-final.”
Waqar also heaped praise on pacer Sohail Khan.
“When he made his debut, Sohail was quick in fact he had more pace at that time. But unfortunately he had a back injury. At that time we had a long list of fast bowlers so he went into background. But he performed really well in first-class cricket after which he was chosen for the World Cup. The way he came from domestic to international cricket and that too in the World Cup is very impressive. He is a very smart bowler. He knows what’s bowling all about. He bowls a very good slower ball,” he said.