Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis on Tuesday (July 21) said he has moved on from the hurt caused by Mohammad Amir’s retirement from Test cricket at the age of 27.
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The left-arm pacer bid adieu to the longest format of the game in July last year in hope of prolonging his white-ball career.
At the time, Waqar was very angry with Amir’s decision but the legendary fast bowler now considers the latter a crucial part of the national team’s plans going forward.
“Amir remains part of our plans for the future as he is experienced. We want to utilise him if he is up to the mark, if he can win matches for Pakistan. Next year we have the World Cup,” Waqar said in an online media interaction.
“It hurt at that time when he decided to retire from Test cricket but we have to move on and do what is best for the country,” he added.
PCB on Monday (July 20) confirmed that Amir will join the Pakistan squad in England. Initially, the speedster had pulled out because the fixtures clashed with the birth of his second child and he was concerned about travelling in that period.
But an earlier than expected birth of his child meant that Amir is now available for the T20I series against England.
“We called Amir because he is part of our white ball cricket plans. And if we felt this was the ideal opportunity to assess all our bowlers going forward. It is not about this series but also about future commitments including the World Cups coming up,” Waqar said.
“We want to see how he is bowling as we want to get a fair idea of which bowlers to take forward and assess them all,” he further remarked.
Waqar admitted that he and head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq were upset when Amir called time on his Test career last year as both felt he was required on the tour of Australia.
“We were not happy but bringing him back I think is a positive move. The young bowlers will learn from him. We are clear in our mind no bowler is indispensable for the team. But I think his presence will help in the competition among the pace bowlers in the training camp in England,” the bowling coach stated.
Waqar said Pakistan is faced with a happy problem of plenty in fast bowling department right now.
“I can tell you whenever there is healthy competition among bowlers to do well in any team it is a blessing in disguise for that team. I see that same culture developing in the Pakistan team now. It is a blessing for us that we have so many pace bowlers to pick from. But in the end we will give priority to those who are performing well,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
