Pakistan certainly need Shaheen Shah Afridi bowling a little bit quicker: Michael Vaughan

MELBOURNE: Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants to see more effort from Pakistan’s fast-bowling spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, who looked below his best in the Test series opener against Australia, saying the left-arm pacer needs to bowl a little quicker.

In the first Test against Australia at Perth, Shaheen had match figures of 2/172 from 45.2 overs, as Pakistan lost by 360 runs. Vaughan also feels if Pakistan doesn’t show fight with the ball, the meek performance from Perth can be repeated in coming Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

“Do you want my honest answer? No, I don't (expect them to be more competitive in the second and third Tests). I mean, they're a team that's almost going through a bit of transition. It's the first Pakistan bowling attack that I've seen that hasn't had a more than 145km/h bowler.”

“They generally come here with a bit of pace. They have skill in their bowling attack. The two debutants were excellent. But I have a bit of a concern about Shaheen Shah Afridi. I think he's a little bit short on gas.”

“He doesn't seem to be bowling as quick as he did a year or two ago. I know he's had an injury, but they certainly need Shaheen Shah bowling a little bit quicker,” said Vaughan on SEN Radio.

At Perth, Pakistan were bowled out for 271 in 101.5 overs of their first innings, where they saw an increase in their run rate once captain Shan Masood came out to bat. But in the second innings, the resistance fell apart as Pakistan were bowled out for just 89 to crash to a 360-run defeat.

Vaughan believes batting will be challenging and tough for Pakistan’s batters against a dominant Australian bowling attack at the MCG, the host for Boxing Day Test from December 26-30.

“It's going to be challenging and tough. You just hope that they get that one run out (that could change things), they might be better for it. The pitch won't bounce as much in Melbourne, you wouldn't have thought. The way that Pakistan bats with lower bounce in Melbourne, it might suit them.”

“It might give them a bit more confidence to bat for a longer period of time and maybe put Australia under a little bit more pressure with a counter punch or two. But this Australian side is just a wonderful team. They've got everything covered.”

“If they have a bad session, and they didn't have too many in Perth, but when they had a 50-50 session, you just knew the mindset and the mentality in the next session would be for them to dominate (the next one). They pretty much did that in every session where you felt the previous session was a 50-50 session,” he concluded.