Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis is confident that his team can beat England in the upcoming three-match Test series in the United Arab Emirates.
The former captain also indicated that Pakistan would rely heavily on their spinners to test the English batsmen.
“More than the limited over series in Zimbabwe, we are totally focused on the Test matches against England. 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,” Waqar said while talking to a sports channel.
He noted that Pakistan’s Test squad was a well-settled one and balanced.
“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 also said that Pakistan will not feel the absence of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who had played a key role in the 3-0 destruction of England at the same venues in 2012.
“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.
Pakistani selectors have said that the team management will include either Zafar Gohar or Muhammad Asghar, both left arm spinners, as the 16th player for the Test series.
Both the youngsters have been named to play in the two side matches against England in Sharjah before the team management takes a final decision on 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.
He said he had lot of respect for England team which had recently won the Ashes.
“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.
