London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.
Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.
"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.
We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.
Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.
"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.
"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.
Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.
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