Dubai: Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has said he is not surprised by the country’s poor performance at the ICC Champions Trophy, currently underway in England.
The team crashed out of the eight-nation competition after losing two matches in a row at the group stages.
In town as the ambassador of Sprite Cricket Stars campaign, Akhtar who holds the record of bowling the fastest ball in the world, said Pakistan’s batting had gone from bad to worse over the years.
Speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of a visit to Dubai Autism Centre as part of the campaign, the speed merchant said: “Pakistan was always going to struggle with the kind of squad they picked and the preparation for the tournament was also not right. You have got to pick horses for courses, you need to pick players who can play in the English conditions rather than sticking to the same players who have failed again and again.”
He said: “Pakistan are blessed to have bowlers like Saeed Ajmal and others, who have bailed the batsmen out time and again. Without them Pakistan would struggle even against minnows. It’s very simple in a 50-over game — the top order has to play for at least 30-40 overs and if you don’t do that you are going to struggle.”
However, Akhtar felt that Pakistan cricket has offered a lot to the world and still has a lot more to offer, “but the house needs to be set in order first.”
“Pakistan’s batting woes reflect a deeper problem facing cricket in the country. The cricket infrastructure in the country has decayed. Cricket in schools and universities has died and, unless some serious work is done at the grassroots level, it’s not going to get better soon,” he observed.
Akhtar, who formed a fearful trio along with the legendary Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in the late 1990s and early 2000s, urged the cricketing establishment to bring international cricket back to Pakistan.
“I know we need to end this so-called war on terror first and until that happens, international cricket will not be back in Pakistan. Lack of cricket is seriously hurting the nation, resulting in huge financial loss which in turn is causing problems in sustaining first class cricket in Pakistan,” he added.
Akhtar is working with Sprite to help unearth young talent from among members of the huge labour community by staging cricket tournaments in the UAE.
