Even Smith struggles at times, says Waqar
THE great Waqar Younis has provided Pakistan’s exciting young pace attack with a blueprint to remove the nigh-on immovable Steve Smith this summer.
But Waqar is not going public, other than to declare even Smith — who averaged 110.57 from seven digs in the Ashes series in England — struggles in certain areas.
He also claimed David Warner was vulnerable and revealed plans to try to expose the star opener in the two-Test series starting in Brisbane tomorrow.
But Pakistan’s bowling coach said the tourists could only unsettle Smith if they were at the top of their game.
“I would not bowl to him. He’s such a good player,” Waqar said.
“He’s got his own technique and that really puts you off at times. He moves in his crease a lot. He backs his hand-eye co-ordination.
“He’s a great player without any doubt. It is hard to bowl to him.”
He said patience and discipline were the keys to trying to dismiss Smith, who averages 64.56 across his 124 Test innings.
“You have to patient. That’s what he does. He stays patient, he spends time at the crease, things get easier and then he punishes you,” he said.
“Likewise you’ve got to do a very similar job as a bowler. You’ve got to stay patient and hit the areas where he struggles and keep it there.
“Don’t try too many things because once you try too many things against him, he gets to you. He knows how to handle all that.”
Waqar was unwilling to nominate where he thought Smith struggled, but said Warner — who averaged 9.5 from 10 Ashes digs — offered opposing attacks more opportunities.
“He is another class act. Those two in the Australian side are the big pillars. If you get them out, things become a little easier,” he said.
“Warner is . . . very attacking and he’ll always provide you with an opportunity, so we’ll be hoping he’ll be vulnerable to the new ball if we get it right.
“We’ve seen it in the Ashes that if you bowl certain ways to him in the Ashes, he has struggled. So we’ll try and expose that.”