Pakistan can emulate Aus-NZ like success against England: Waqar Younis

Head coach says spinners will play key role in testing the English batsmen

Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis expressed confidence that the team is able enough to beat England in the upcoming three-match Test series in the UAE.

Bowling great also said that spinners will play a key role in testing the English batsmen.

"More than the limited over series in Zimbabwe, we are totally focused on the Test matches against England,” said Waqar, while talking to a local sports channel.

Read: Beating Pakistan in UAE is a big challenge, says Brendon McCullum

“It is a very important series for us and I just want the team to repeat the form they showed against Australia and New Zealand last year," he added, as quoted by NDTV.

The 43-year-old said that Pakistan had a stable and balanced Test squad.

"I am confident we can win this series (against England) if we play the way we did against Australia and New Zealand. Our players are used to the pitches in UAE and if we look at the number of centuries scored by Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq or Azhar Ali in Tests I think we can do well," he said.

Waqar commented on the absence of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal saying that leggie Yasir Shan and left-hand spinner Zulfiqar Babar can be counted upon.

Read: Wahab makes comeback, Ajmal misses cut in all formats

"I think our spinners particularly Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar have done very well in recent matches and we are counting on them to repeat their form as well. And they have played Tests against England. But we also have two young spinners to back them up in case of any eventuality,” he said.

Zafar Gohar or Muhammad Asghar, both left-arm spinners, were included in the Pakistan A squad and one will make it to the squad as the 16th player.

"I think our spin resources are more than adequate and the pitches there will assist them. Dubai is a bit different but we also have dependable resources in the pace department as well," said Waqar.

Read: England announce squads for Pakistan series in UAE

Waqar also commended England’s recent win against Australia and praised country’s new pool of players.

"They have some quality players but I think conditions in the UAE are different for them while for our players it is like a second home since we have not been able to play in Pakistan," he said.