Waqar draws positives from Pakistan''s Asia Cup performance

Published Tue, Jun 22 10 12:11 AM

Joseph Hoover Dambulla (Sri Lanka), Jun 21 (PTI) Pakistan coach Waqar Younis expressed satisfaction over his side''s performance in the Asia Cup cricket tournament even though Shahid Afridi''s men failed to qualify for the final of the ongoing four-nation tournament here. The former pacer said there were positives Pakistan could draw from the tournament ahead of the England tour. "If you ask me, I am very happy with the overall performance of the team. We didn''t qualify for the final, but the games against Sri Lanka (lost by 16 runs) and India (3 wickets) were 50-50 at some stage. The boys fielded, bowled and batted very well," Waqar said after Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 139 runs in an inconsequential match today. "Also we are in the rebuilding process. It is a great learning curve for the youngsters whom we blooded in this tournament. We are confident we will get better with time," the coach said. Waqar said it was unfortunate the way Umar Amin was run out in the match. "If you go by the cricket laws, he was certainly out. But it was unfortunate in the manner that he got out as he was striking the ball well," he said. He said captain Afridi''s form was a god sign for the team ahead of the tour to England, where Pakistan will play Tests against Australia (two) and England (four). "Afridi''s form augurs well. That is what we will take to England when we leave from here. You always want your captain to be in-from ahead of a big tour," said Waqar. Commenting on comeback man Shoaib Akthar''s form, Waqar said, "He is still rusty. He needs more time to get to where we want him to be. He has become an intelligent bowler now. "It is Twenty20 and ODIs that we are looking at him for. We want him around for a while." Asked if the 50-over format needed to be reinvigorated, Waqar said, "I subscribe to Sachin''s (Tendulkar) opinion of splitting the 50-over game into two innings. It could possibly make it more interesting in the present scenario where T20 has taken over." Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Shakib-Al Hasan said his middle-order batter''s return to form was a positive sign. "There was a plus point in our batting. The middle-order was struggling but we used this opportunity to get over the problem," he said. Defending his side''s bizarre approach while chasing Pakistan''s mammoth 385 for seven, Shakib said, "The target was too stiff. As we had not batted well in the middle overs, we decided to use the situation to our team''s advantage. We gained out of that experience." PTI SSC

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