Usman Qadir bowls a lot of bad balls, needs consistency: Fawad Ahmed

Australian cricketer Fawad Ahmed believes Pakistan Usman Qadir needs to bring more control in his bowling, as the leg-spinner tends to bowl too many bad balls.

While speaking in an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Fawad complimented Qadir’s skillset but reiterated the need for more consistency in his bowling.

"Usman is an excellent bowler, but he needs a little mental help. He still doesn’t have the consistency, which is required in international cricket. He is an exciting talent. He has skills and all the variations, but he bowls a lot of bad balls," said Fawad.

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The 39-year-old advised the Pakistan leg-spinner to focus on red-ball cricket inorder to take his game to the next level.

"Usman needs to think about getting better now after making a place in the national side. What about Test cricket? He needs to do more hard work. Shane Warne told me that if you want to play Test cricket, you have to bowl 300 balls every day. So that you are more consistent in your line and length and are able to land the ball at the right spot. I think we should encourage Usman to play more red-ball cricket. He needs to play an entire season of domestic cricket," he said.

"First-class cricket can be really beneficial. Hasan Ali’s performance is a prime example of it. We should not degrade the first-class and say that it is easy. It is never easy to pick five wickets, even in club cricket," he added.

Fawad is impressed with Pakistan’s current stock of spinners but believes they need proper guidance to succeed in international cricket.

"Zahid Mehmood and Usman Qadir are very bright prospects. I have played with Zahid Mehmood for Quetta Gladiators. Mohammad Nawaz is also very skilful. Yasir Shah is also there in Test cricket. Pakistan keeps producing spin talent, but PCB needs to go one step further and think about grooming them, so that they are successful in international cricket," he concluded.