Waqar reveals whether Sharjeel is ready for Pakistan comeback

Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis believes it would be too early to include opener Sharjeel Khan back into national side.

While speaking in a Youtube video, the former pacer was not impressed with the left-hander’s fitness level.

“Sharjeel needs a lot of work right now. You can’t judge him on the basis of one or two innings,” said Waqar. “He needs to work on his fitness because where are we going to hide him in the field? Fielding is really important these days and especially in Australia where grounds are really big.”

“Sharjeel has a lot of time after PSL to get himself fit,” he added.

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Earlier this month, former cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Ramiz Raja raised similar concerns regarding Sharjeel and advised him to get leaner in order improve his overall game.

“Sharjeel has so much talent, but he needs to lose his belly fat and get fit,” Akhtar said. “He had around six months from the time he got selected for PSL [to get fit]. He has so much time which he needs to utilize to get lean and ready for fielding.”

“Sharjeel needs to improve his fitness. He still looks very fat and unfit. His running between the wickets is almost zero. Babar Azam looked frustrated at various times with Sharjeel’s running,” Ramiz said. “He needs to understand that he can’t rely on just fours and sixes. His batting needs rhythm which will come through taking singles, so he needs to work a lot on his fitness.”