Waqar Younis has suggested Shaheen Shah Afridi take time out from playing cricket in order to rediscover the pace needed to make him a threat in all conditions.

The 23-year-old struggled for penetration in the first Test at Perth, taking 2-172 in the game, continuing a lean stretch in the longest format. The left-armer averages 38.24 since the start of 2022, a sharp drop from the 17.06 he averaged in 2021.

“I’m not really sure what’s wrong with him,” Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. “If he’s not fit, if he’s got some issues, I think he needs to go away from the game and fix that. If you’re just going to carry on like that, then you are going to become a medium pacer. He used to bowl 145, 150 [kph] all days and bowl really quickly and swing that ball. What I’m seeing right now, yeah there’s a little bit of swing there, but his pace is way down.

“He’s somewhere around 130, 132 [kph] max, and that is not going to get him wickets. If you’re not going to get wickets here, you’re not going to get them anywhere. You’ve got to learn to bowl in good areas also, but also, you’ve got to understand that pace is crucial, it’s very, very important.”

Waqar expressed his fears for Pakistan’s pace stocks beyond Shaheen. While Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad had creditable Test debuts, taking 12 wickets between them, neither is an express quick.

If Shaheen Afridi carries on the way he has been currently, he will become a 'medium pacer' – Waqar Younis #AUSvPAK

Is there cause for concern, Pakistan fans? pic.twitter.com/qJgT85gZnl

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 24, 2023

“Another thing that I’m worried about is that always when we come to Australia, one thing that excites is the fast bowling and this time around I’m not seeing that,” Waqar said. “I’m seeing medium-pacers or slow-medium-pacers, all-rounders, there’s no real pace. People used to come and watch Pakistan pace bowlers really running in hard and bowling 150 clicks, and that’s what I’m not seeing there.

“That’s my worry and issue because I have not seen it at the domestic level also. There are a few injured, I can understand, but in the past you would always see a battery of fast bowlers that they could always bring on, but unfortunately that is not there and I’m really worried about that.”

Australia won the first Test by 360 runs, extending Pakistan’s losing run in Australia to 17 Tests. The second Test begins on Boxing Day at the MCG.