LAHORE: Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis has not attached very high expectations with pacer Mohammad Amir, who is staging a comeback to the national team after five-year-long ban, and says losing wily leg-spinner Yasir Shah to doping offence is a major loss for Pakistan cricket.

“Speaking frankly, I am not expecting a lot from Amir as head coach,” said Waqar while talking to Dawn in an exclusive interview on Saturday. “Of course, we (the PCB) fought Amir’s case to get him free from the ban, but there is a lot of debate and critcism over Amir’s return and we must keep in mind that there will be great pressure on the bowler to perform.”

“If we want to get performance from Amir, we have to ease that pressure on him with our friendly attitude and by showing patience,” said Waqar. “I wish Amir does wonders for Pakistan in New Zealand, if he gets the visa, but I am not claiming he will definitely do. Let’s allow him to settle down slowly and gradually. No one can guess what Amir’s feelings are owing to the recent criticism othat he has faced.”

“We should not stop him from reacting in the field after taking a wicket as it is a fast bowler’s way of letting out the steam and my experience as well as that of other pacers is no different,” Waqar recalled.

Negating the rumours that as many as nine players of the Pakistan team, including captain Azhar Ali and others had given him a written statement expressing their reservations over Amir’s re-entry into the team few months back, Waqar said: “No one has given me any written statement about any reservations on Amir’s return back to the national team. Yes, verbally, it was decided with the players that whenever such an stage comes, we will talk about it. But they (players) will also have to talk with the PCB and the selectors.

“But yes, it was quite shocking the way Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafeez threatened the PCB over Amir’s entry. They should not be so much emotional but I am glad it has been covered up,” Waqar said.

Recent criticism to put undue pressure on Amir, says head coach

Asked being a cool-minded person, no one was expecting such kind of reaction from ODI captain Azhar Ali, Waqar said: “Everyone has his own way of reacting to things, but for me I believe Amir was just 18-years-old when he made that mistake in 2010. I also gave a statement before the ICC as a witness against Amir but since now he has completed his punishment and is also performing well at the domestic level, no one has the right to stop him from playing cricket again,” said Waqar.

He agreed that Azhar might have been frustrated since he was not treated in a decent manner for the Pakistan Super League (PSL). “Yes, most probably Azhar also felt hurt since he was adjusted in the silver category in the PSL and being the Pakistan ODI skipper, he certainly deserved better category,” Waqar said.

Asked if he felt ignored when none of the five franchises of the PSL signed him, Waqar said: “Yes I was also hurt but it is not end of the world. But Azhar being a young person felt hurt more than me. Since it is our first PSL, people who matter with Pakistan cricket the most deserve more respect.”

“PSL is a product of the PCB, which will ultimately be responsible in both cases of being a success story or not, so there should be some checks and balances,” he added. Waqar said there could be a lot of discussion over the PSL but he did not want to comment more because it may appear to be a personal grouse of sorts.

About losing leg-spinner Yasir Shah, Waqar said he will be a great loss in Test cricket but not so much in the ODIs. “It is a cricketing loss but it was Yasir’s mistake. He should not have done it. I will not blame anyone else but Yasir himself for this irresponsible act of taking banned substance without the permission of the PCB doctors,” Waqar said.

Dispelling the impression that the team management forced Yasir to use banned medicine to be fit for the Test series against England, Waqar said; “I feel sorry for those who are saying this because that is not the truth.”

Asked to share his experience of working for the first time as coach with three different captains (Misbah, Shahid Afridi and Azhar Ali), Waqar said: “I know them very well. I had also played with the other two (Afridi and Misbah) and I had also worked with both in the last stint as coach (from 2010 to 2011), so I am adjusting well.”

When reminded about his problems with Afridi the last time he was coach, Waqar said: “This time there is nothing wrong as both of us are more humble now and Afridi is not the hyper person he was. In the ongoing fitness camp, Afridi has shown more commitment for his fitness and that is a happy sign.”

When confronted about the recent remarks of senior player Younis Khan about him, Waqar said: “Younis accused me that I am breaking the unity of the team but if you analyse in my ongoing tenure, Pakistan team has scored 32 centuries in Test cricket and almost a good number were scored by Younis Khan and that shows I am doing something better for Pakistan cricket,” he argued.

“I think when Younis could not bat well in the ODIs, he got frustrated. We gave him full opportunity to resume ODI cricket (from the series against England-2015). I guaranteed him that he will play all four ODIs against England and I also offered him to choose his batting spot. And when Younis said except opening slot he is ready to bat at any place, I suggested him to bat at number four,” recalled Waqar.

“But after playing the first ODI, he shocked everyone by announcing his retirement and that was his own decision.”

Speaking about Pakistan’s recent poor show in the ODI format, Waqar said: “We have to change our mindset in the ODIs as cricket is changing with the application of new rules. I have been trying hard in recent months to get the team to chase big targets since 300 plus targets are the norm today.

“When we had bowlers like Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez to bowl the death overs we successfully defended total like 260. But unfortunately they are not available due to their ban and so we have to score 300 plus runs to beat competing teams,” Waqar said.

“But despite the various shocks that we have suffered in the last four to five years including the losses to Ajmal, Hafeez as well as Aamir, Asif and Salman in the past and now Yasir too, we have survived in world of cricket and have made an impact. We also lost the services of recently groomed all-rounder Haris Sohail due to injury problems and when another all-rounder Imad Wasim got injured before England series that was just too much.

“When Imad was injured we had to pull out Ahmed Shahzad to give a chance to all-rounder Babar Azam to open the innings. We tried many other players but unfortunately most of them failed to click so we faced criticism. But if you look at England, their experimentation with little known England players like James Vince and Sam Billings have clicked in a big way,” he argued. “Thankfully, in Test cricket we are not facing any fitness problems.”

To a question, Waqar admitted that opener Shahzad could not establish himself as reliable cricketer but he added the opener was a talented player and he had plenty of good things to offer to Pakistan team in future. He said the same holds good for another talented but unreliable middle-order batsman Umar Akmal but the two players could give improved performance after the fitness camp.

“Today, the players have the opportunities to play T20 league and county cricket in abundance, so they are spending their off-time in cricket to earn money. Though it is their right to earn money, the PCB should emphasise that Pakistan cricket must remain the priority of players,” he said.

“We observe that many national players of different countries such as Pietersen, Chris Gayle and many others are not preferring to represent their country but are most keen for T20 leagues. So there ought to be some checks and balances. When the PCB offers central contract to the players, it must be made mandatory for them to remain available for fitness camps and for Pakistan cricket,” he suggested.

Waqar said though his two-year contract will expire by the end of June, before the upcoming tour of England, he is optimistic that he would sit with the PCB to discuss his future soon.

“It all depends on the prevailing situation. I may not be ready for an extension by then or the PCB may decide not to keep me on, but I am hopeful that we will have a good discussion before a decision is made,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2016