“Can’t catch. Can’t field.”
Pace legend Waqar Younis has slammed Pakistan’s fielding in the third Test against Australia in Sydney.
The tourists rallied late but still face the prospect of a 3-0 series whitewash after the hosts cantered to a mammoth total of 8(dec)-538 at the SCG.
Veteran paceman Wahab Riaz put the onus on the bowling unit after day one, however Waqar said the attack wasn’t solely to blame for a sorry start to the match.
Sarfraz Ahmed missed two stumpings, while Younis Khan and Babar Azam each put down a catch.
Younis gave debutant Hilton Cartwright a lifeline by dropping a regulation catch off hard-working spinner Yasir Shah’s bowling.
“That was the easiest of the lot. Can’t catch, can’t field,” bemoaned Waqar in commentary for the Nine Network.
“(The bowlers) get demoralised. It’s very difficult to pick yourself up to bowl again. It’s a tough wicket to bowl on and you create an opportunity or a chance, then someone put it down.”
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admitted his side’s fielding had been “very, very, very frustrating”.
“We can’t work any harder at our fielding,” Arthur said.
“We catch balls continuously, (fielding coach) Steve Rixon works the guys continuously hard, so fielding has been a massive frustration for us.
“We certainly don’t want to be labelled a poor fielding team.”
Yasir should’ve had Cartwright stumped earlier in the day, while poor fielding continued to cruel any chance of the visitors playing themselves back into the contest.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq wasn’t immune to their problems in the outfield, almost pegging a ball into a teammate in the third over of the day.
Australian great Shane Warne empathised with Yasir.
“This is just disheartening for the bowler. Yasir Shah’s gone for 140 again and 40 of them could’ve been stopped. You’ve got to feel for the Pakistan bowlers, you can’t miss that,” he said.
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