The immortal words of Waqar Younis about Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal

[Saj]

PakPassion.net : Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad find themselves at a crucial point in their cricketing careers. What advice do you offer them?

Waqar Younis : I sat with them many times and told them what I wanted from them. I sat with them ahead of the 2015 World Cup and told them what I and the team expected and needed, and what the nation wanted from them. I worked hard on them but unfortunately the passion is not there. The cricketing passion is missing from them. They need to realise that cricket isn't just about making money, cricket is not a business and it's about passion. Sometimes I got the impression that these youngsters don't offer enough. They are thinking about too many other things and not about cricket. Look at the era when I played cricket, with the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Wasim Akram, these guys thought about nothing other than cricket. This is an area where I feel these youngsters are lacking. Umar and Ahmed need to pull their socks up if they want to get back into the team. Talent will only take you to a certain level, after that it's hard work that will carry you forward. We have seen enough of their talent and if they are not prepared to work hard then we may not see them again in the Pakistan team.

Words that continue to ring true.

 

[Abdul]

Expecting Savak to show up on this thread and defend his beloved Ahmed Shehzad since he's got "swagger."

 

[TeymurBlake]

That was 2015????

And yet still no improvement from both of them.

 

[Saj]

That was 2015????

And yet still no improvement from both of them.

No this interview was in 2016.

 

[TeymurBlake]

No this interview was in 2016.

Ohhh

That was 2016?????

And yet still no improvement from both of them.

 

[Plumb]

Golden words from waqar.

"Talent will only take you to a certain level, after that it's hard work that will carry you forward"

started hating the word "Talent" after UA. Players shine once they put in their hard work, and it really reflects on the performances. Players like UA and shezzy thinks that they can just come to the match without hard work and win pakistan games just because they have "talent".

The difference is there in the team after players like these are out.

Hoping Mickey continue with the new culture in Pakistan team and it remains in the team even if Mickey is not there.

 

[Savak]

We have seen how far the hard work of Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali took them where both players after so many unlimited chances couldn't cement their places in the ODI's, T-20 teams and Asad Shafiq still bats like a debutant after almost a decade.

This is clear proof that hardwork can only take you so far but without real deal talent you will reach a ceiling.

No need to take everything that Waqar says as gospel, the guy was a failed coach and rightfully let go.

 

[Slim]

We have seen how far the hard work of Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali took them where both players after so many unlimited chances couldn't cement their places in the ODI's, T-20 teams and Asad Shafiq still bats like a debutant after almost a decade.

This is clear proof that hardwork can only take you so far but without real deal talent you will reach a ceiling.

No need to take everything that Waqar says as gospel, the guy was a failed coach and rightfully let go.

After being party in Azhar's selection as captain, after destroying our LOI team, after the unforgivavle humiliation in bangladesh; Waqar has zero credibility as a coach.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

PakPassion.net : Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad find themselves at a crucial point in their cricketing careers. What advice do you offer them?

Waqar Younis : I sat with them many times and told them what I wanted from them. I sat with them ahead of the 2015 World Cup and told them what I and the team expected and needed, and what the nation wanted from them. I worked hard on them but unfortunately the passion is not there. The cricketing passion is missing from them. They need to realise that cricket isn't just about making money, cricket is not a business and it's about passion. Sometimes I got the impression that these youngsters don't offer enough. They are thinking about too many other things and not about cricket. Look at the era when I played cricket, with the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Wasim Akram, these guys thought about nothing other than cricket. This is an area where I feel these youngsters are lacking. Umar and Ahmed need to pull their socks up if they want to get back into the team. Talent will only take you to a certain level, after that it's hard work that will carry you forward. We have seen enough of their talent and if they are not prepared to work hard then we may not see them again in the Pakistan team.

Words that continue to ring true.

Waqar was not a great coach or judge of player ability - or attitude. Or he would have got rid of a lot of underperformers - including national T20 captain with an extended losing run.

Pinning blame on couple of players and lumping them together was the easy way out for him to justify his own non-performance.

 

[Savak]

Waqar was not a great coach or judge of player ability - or attitude. Or he would have got rid of a lot of underperformers - including national T20 captain with an extended losing run.

Pinning blame on couple of players and lumping them together was the easy way out for him to justify his own non-performance.

That is Waqar in a nutshell, everything is everyone elses fault. The guy should never ever be made Pakistan coach again after he utterly demoralized the team by laying into them for the NZ T-20 loss and said the team did not deserve to qualify and were better off crashing out of the tournament early even though there was a final T-20 game to be played against Australia and where Pakistan if they won that T-20 game had a very good chance of qualifying for the semi final. That was a clear example of how Waqar is a complete misfit for any type of senior coaching or administrative position as he does not have it in him to handle pressure when things get tough. Someone like Wasim in comparison would never have demoralized his own team like that in such a crucial stage of a tournament.

 

[Zaz]

Waqar was not a great coach or judge of player ability - or attitude. Or he would have got rid of a lot of underperformers - including national T20 captain with an extended losing run.

Pinning blame on couple of players and lumping them together was the easy way out for him to justify his own non-performance.

Waqar has been proven right regarding his comments on Shezad and Akmal It’s not that waqar had a problem with these players They have issues with their professionalism and dedication to their game as we can still see 3 years on

 

[IMMY69]

We have seen how far the hard work of Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali took them where both players after so many unlimited chances couldn't cement their places in the ODI's, T-20 teams and Asad Shafiq still bats like a debutant after almost a decade.

This is clear proof that hardwork can only take you so far but without real deal talent you will reach a ceiling.

No need to take everything that Waqar says as gospel, the guy was a failed coach and rightfully let go.

You that’s a pretty pathetic statement.

 

[IMMY69]

Forget Waqar being spot on...
95pct of PP members were absolutely correct.
The other 5pct we’ll just put down to low IQ

 

[shaz619]

We have seen how far the hard work of Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali took them where both players after so many unlimited chances couldn't cement their places in the ODI's, T-20 teams and Asad Shafiq still bats like a debutant after almost a decade.

This is clear proof that hardwork can only take you so far but without real deal talent you will reach a ceiling.

No need to take everything that Waqar says as gospel, the guy was a failed coach and rightfully let go.

Azhar helped deliver an ICC trophy and had a run which established him as one of the worlds best in Test, Shafiq has been inconsistent but has delivered the goods from time to time. Both have a combo of talent, hard work and a good attitude. Both also have done 20x more for their countries then the other two bender brothers you love so much, besides; assuming Akmal and Selfie would have made a huge difference to our fortunes right now they just have a terrible attitude which is contagious for Pakistan cricket, frankly they need to get themselves medical help and also their supporters.

 

[Markhor]

Everyone knows I'm not a fan of Waqar'e coaching tenures but he was right in his assessment of these two pains the backside.

 

[Saj]

The words of Waqar will be echoed by most if not all of the coaches both Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad have worked with.

Both have let themselves down and let those that have invested time in them down.

 

[Kroll]

It's pretty futile to keep bringing these two names up.

 

[A-1]

You know you are in bad shape when even someone who had zilch man management skills and tactical awareness (as a coach) can see faults in you. Although the problems are tbh quite apparent but he didn't bent to those two and pointed them out every now and then so credit where it's due

I admire and loved waqar younis the player but he was a God awful tactician (hated even his captaincy).

 

[Saj]

Ahmed Shehzad has played so many times for Pakistan due to family connections.

I have it on good authority that his family is well-connected and as a result he has been given more chances to play for Pakistan than other players have.

 

[TeamPak95]

On a bit of a side note, is there a Pakistani legend to have played the game that didn't have family connections, or any for that matter, of any sort?

 

[Hasan123]

Waqar is a rubbish coach but these 2 have no respect for authority.

 

[Saj]

On a bit of a side note, is there a Pakistani legend to have played the game that didn't have family connections, or any for that matter, of any sort?

Don't think Misbah had family connections, Younis Khan either, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq too.

Plenty of such examples I guess.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Waqar is a poor coach and tactician but you can't question his honesty and hard work. He really wanted to play a part in making Pakistan cricket better. His assessment was very accurate and should have been given more consideration.