NEWS
Follow UsFormer Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has hit out at Australia coach Justin Langer for praising David Warner for hitting a six off Mohammad Hafeez after the ball slipped from the bowler's hand and pitched twice before the batter connected.
While agreeing that Warner did not break any rules of the game, he believes such things should not be promoted.
"It’s fine. It was legal. He had the right to hit it and he did. That’s all good. But promoting it is wrong. The way Justin Langer praised it by saying things like ‘Brilliant presence of mind, I’ve never seen anything like this on the cricket pitch’… that is ridiculous," Waqar said on A Sports.
"That is not right. What are you teaching the little kids? Fine, it is your mindset… you play the way you want to but don’t teach the youngsters," he further added.
Waqar also went on to say that he is not surprised with Langer's comments as he too did not walk after he edged one to the 'keeper during the famous Hobart Test in 1999.
"Justin Langer has this history. In a Test match in the 1990s, we played a very famous Test match at Hobart. We were on the brink of winning the Test match but when he nicked the ball, he did not walk. And it was the biggest nick I had ever heard," Waqar said.
"He admitted 2-3 days later. I had a chat with him at one of the functions and he said ‘oh, there was a click in there. I said 'don't give me that rubbish’. He agreed to it. What are you trying to promote?"
Australia went on to beat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final and will now take on New Zealand in the final on Sunday (November 14) in Dubai.