LONDON: Waqar Younis is confident that the future of Pakistan’s “trademark” fast bowling is in safe hands after overseeing the latest generation of quicks during their recent tour of England.
Teenage paceman Naseem Shah and 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi both impressed as Pakistan lost the three-match Test series 1-0 but drew the Twenty20 campaign 1-1.
“Fast bowling is the trademark of Pakistan cricket,” said the 48-year-old Waqar, an outstanding fast bowler, in a Pakistan Cricket Board website column published on Thursday.
“There have been so many great ones over the years and I am confident that the future will be bright again,” added Waqar, who formed a celebrated partnership with left-arm quick Wasim Akram and is now Pakistan’s bowling coach.
“We have seen already that Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi are wonderful bowlers. Muhammad Musa, who was part of the squad in England, is another, and there are a couple in the under-19s also. Of course, Mohammad Abbas is very seasoned and experienced.”
Abbas, like Waqar and Wasim before him, has played in English county cricket and the coach would like to see the emerging quicks do the same.
“I know from personal experience how much you can learn from playing in England, getting used to different weather and ground conditions, the pitches, and life off the field also,” Waqar said.
“Both Mohammad Amir (Essex) and Mohammad Abbas (Leicestershire) have been really successful for English counties and it has benefited their careers so much as well.”
One consequence of the coronavirus is that players have been banned from using saliva to shine the ball.
But Waqar said the Dukes ball used in England stayed harder for longer than other brands and “made the saliva issue less of a problem.”
Waqar, however, called on the International Cricket Council to designate just one brand of ball for all Test cricket.
“It doesn’t matter which brand but the ICC should make that decision,” he said. “It’s hard for bowlers to adjust to using different types of ball when they play around the world.”
Waqar backs young generation to uphold Pakistan fast bowling tradition
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Waqar backs young generation to uphold Pakistan fast bowling tradition
- Fast bowling is the trademark of Pakistan cricket, says Waqar
- Waqar called on the International Cricket Council to designate just one brand of ball for all Test cricket
Death toll in Karachi mall fire rises to 73 after two more bodies recovered — rescue service
- Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the fire at Gul Plaza which housed around 1,200 shops
- The identification process has been slowed by the condition of the remains recovered from the site
KARACHI: The death toll from a devastating fire at a shopping mall in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi climbed to 73 on Sunday, the Edhi rescue service said, following the recovery of the remains of two more persons.
The development came as rescuers and volunteers continued to comb through the debris at Gul Plaza, a densely packed commercial complex in the heart of Karachi where a deadly fire erupted on Jan. 17, for remains of the victims.
Over the past week, family members of more than a dozen missing persons have stayed near the destroyed plaza and hospital even after providing their DNA samples for testing, with some relatives also criticizing authorities for the slow pace of rescue efforts.
“The death toll in the Gul Plaza tragedy has reached 73,” the Edhi rescue service said in a statement on Sunday night. “The remains of two more bodies were shifted to the Edhi morgue today.”
There was no official comment on the increase in death toll.
“We have processed 71 sets of remains, of which 20 have been identified,” Chief Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said on Friday.
The identification process has been significantly slowed by the condition of the remains recovered from the site, according to Syed. Many bodies were found in fragments, complicating DNA analysis and prolonging the process for families waiting for confirmation.
Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the fire at the building, which housed around 1,200 shops. Traders say the blaze caused more than $53 million losses.
Fires are common in Karachi’s markets and factories, which are known for their poor infrastructure, but a blaze on such a scale is rare.
The provincial government has announced that it will give Rs10 million ($35,720) to each family of the deceased. All 1,200 shopkeepers will also be compensated.
