Waqar Younis denies fixing allegations

Babar Azam has come in for praise from coach Waqar.

 Pakistan coach Waqar Younis dismissed match-fixing allegations after his team suffered a massive 84-run defeat in the fourth and final one-dayer in Dubai to hand England a 3-1 series win.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan had raised suspicions over Pakistan's batting collapse in the third match in Sharjah where they were all out for 208 after being in a position of strength at 132 for two in 29.3 overs.
"3 run outs and a few iffy shots from Pakistan. Never seen that before!! They must all think we are stupid," Vaughan had tweeted.
Reportedly Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shaharyar Khan was so upset with Vaughan's comments that he showed his displeasure to the International Cricket Council.
On Friday night after yet another defeat to England, Waqar was quick to defend his team when questions were raised at the post-match Press conference about Vaughan's tweets.
"I am not aware of that, but I have been hearing about this here and there but I am very clear about the Pakistan team and the boys. There is nothing wrong with the game," Waqar said.
"Yes, we lost that game. You lose and win games, and it's unfortunate the way the whole thing happened but I have no doubt in my boys and I am very satisfied."
Waqar said his young one-day team needs time to achieve consistency. "I don't think there has been any pressure on the team now. Yes, we are giving opportunities to the youngsters but they need time to find their feet because it's fast game now.
"The good thing is we have got two-three good youngsters in this series. They have proved their capability. Babar Azam has played really well. As I said these youngsters have the talent and they will definitely improve.
"There is no doubt that England played better cricket than us. They deserve all the credit. Today the way they played and the kind of innings that Jos Buttler played really put them in a strong position.
"After that we were just chasing the game. But I am still really proud of the guys. Our batsmen played fearless cricket today. Of course we lost because chasing 356 is so difficult.
"But we have gained a lot from this series. The team has shown that they are willing to play positive, attacking cricket."
The legendary fast bowler refused to criticise his pace bowlers for failing to contain Buttler.
"Yes, our fast bowlers didn't hit the right lines. They didn't bowl enough yorkers. But when somebody plays shots like that it can unsettle any bowler in the world.
"I think instead of criticising my bowlers, we should give credit to Buttler for playing the way he did."  
Waqar felt one big innings from any of his batsmen could have changed the game in Dubai.
"When you are chasing such a big target, you can't afford to let the asking rate go out of control. So naturally you play your shots and you lose wickets.
"But unfortunately we kept losing wickets at regular intervals. And that hurt us.
"We needed one big partnership. If one of our batsmen had got a hundred, we probably would have won the match."
On Yasir Shah's failure to replicate his Test form in ODIs (he got only two wickets in three ODIs compared to 15 in the two Tests), Waqar said the leg- spinner needs time to improve in limited overs cricket.
"It's a different ball game when it comes to one-dayers. It takes a little bit longer to adjust yourself to the pace of the game.
"I think that is why he didn't pick up the wickets we wanted from him. But I am confident that he will soon become one of our best one-day bowlers as well."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com