DUBAI: Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis praised England’s pace duo for their ability to reverse swing the ball, saying it was seen as suspicious in his time but must now be considered an art.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad surprised with their reverse swing during England’s 2-0 loss against Pakistan in the UAE.

But Waqar, regarded as one of the main exponents of reverse swing along with his former new-ball partner Wasim Akram, said he saw nothing suspicious about the English duo’s bowling.

“It’s always exciting to see the ball reverse swing,” said Waqar, who was accused by the British media of tampering with the ball on Pakistan’s controversial tour of England in 1992.

Wasim and Waqar destroyed many a team with their ability to reverse swing the ball. Waqar, famous for his toe crushing yorkers, took 373 wickets in Tests and 416 in ODIs as compared to Wasim’s 414 in Tests and 502 in ODIs.

Asked whether he had seen anything suspicious in Anderson and Broad’s ability to reverse swing the ball — described by Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez as “incredible” — Waqar said: “Honestly speaking they [England bowlers] know how to reverse swing the ball.

“In these conditions [dry pitches of UAE] the ball gets rough earlier. But when they do it, it’s an art, when we did it was not.”

Waqar said he was convinced that other teams would also learn the art.

“We managed it because we came from the region where the ball gets dry and rough quickly and we did it with our ability,” he said.

“England learnt it fast and even Australians have learnt this.”

Waqar reckoned England’s pace attack was superior than Pakistan.

“When you compare fast bowling of the two teams, without a doubt, they have experienced and fitter bowlers than ours, plus we had both left-armers and not very experienced, so there was a difference.”

Anderson took 13 wickets -- the most for England in three Tests -- while Broad finished with seven.

“To me Anderson is one of the best bowlers since my time was over and Dale Steyn is closer to him. They are the two best bowlers and then Broad is fitter and a true fighter.”

Waqar said Anderson used various tricks to add to his swing.

“He is a smart bowler and hiding the ball in his hand is also a good tactic which makes it difficult for the batsman to judge which side is shining,” said Waqar of Anderson who now has 426 wickets in 110 Tests -- eighth in all time Test wicket-takers.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2015

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