Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that the absence of India's opening batsman Virender Sehwag in the first two Test matches in England will be a great advantage for the hosts. Sehwag, who is yet to recover from a shoulder injury, has been included in the 17-member Test squad but will miss the first two Tests.
"The absence of an explosive batsman like Sehwag at top of the order is a disadvantage for Team India going into this big series. I don't think there is any other impact player like him in world cricket currently," Akram was quoted.
"Besides Sehwag has a great opening combination with Gautam Gambhir over the last three years, Apart from hitting the boundaries, they are skillful at pinching those quick singles due to the large understanding they share. They have scored runs all over the world in hard conditions," said Akram.Sehwag has scored only 527 runs from 11 Tests against England at an average of 31.
Sub-continent conditions demand a leg-spinner, feels former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram.While, Wasim Akram defended the ‘surprise’ choice of Piyush Chawla in India’s 15-man World Cup squad, he was stunned over Rohit Sharma being snubbed.“The pure cricketing reason for Chawla’s selection is that he is a leg-spinner and in the sub-continental conditions, he has the mixture in his range including a googly, which could come handy on turning tracks,” he explained.
Chawla, who, plays the role of a utility cricketer in his IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, last appeared in an ODI for India way back in July 2008 against Pakistan. Therefore, his selection ahead of Pragyan Ojha raised some eyebrows on Monday. However, Akram says it’s more than just bowling that gave Chawla the edge over Ojha.
“Ojha has been in good form of late in Test cricket. However, apart from being a spinner with a lot of variety, Chawla is a handy bat, and a young and energetic fielder. These small, yet important choice calls are taken after discussions with the captain, the coach and the selectors. I am sure they have made the decision on Chawla keeping everyone in the loop,” said the 44-year-old.Overall, Akram was satisfied with the outlook of the MS Dhoni-led team, but one decision that surprised him was the exclusion of Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma.
Rohit, who, was the find of India’s triumphant 2007 ICC World T20 campaign, has failed to do full justice to his skills as a frontline batsman since then. An average of a mere 28.34 in 58 ODIs with just five fifties and two hundreds in his career, rightly suggests that he has been failed in displaying consistency. Akram too hinted on the same lines.“The most shocking thing for me is that Rohit has not been picked. He is such a talented batsman. But again, if you do not score runs at the top level on a regular basis, you are bound to get the axe,” he concluded.
Wasim Akram (born June 3, 1966 in Lahore) is a Pakistani former cricketer. He was primarily a left arm fast bowler and represented the Pakistani cricket team in Tests and One-day Internationals. He is widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers ever and holds world records for the number of wickets taken both in ODIs (502) and in List A cricket. A statistical analysis carried out by Wisden in 2002 ranked him the number one fast bowler of all time in ODIs.
Think of your favourite Wasim Akram moment. The two balls to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis, the hat-tricks in Sharjah, the penultimate-ball six at the Nehru Cup final, the two Test hat-tricks in consecutive Tests, the 1992 Lord's Test win, four wickets in five balls against the West Indies or the ball to Rahul Dravid at Chennai? That's just for starters. Akram was the ultimate big-game player, the man for the occasion, the man who put swing into reverse, the man chosen to succeed Imran Khan, which in itself takes some succeeding. There hasn't been a better left-arm fast bowler and only a handful of any description have surpassed him.
Achievements
Nearly a thousand international wickets, only man with over 500 ODI wickets, close to seven thousand international runs, four international hat-tricks, one more at first-class level: you want more? Okay, here you go: World Cup winner and player of the final, most ODI four-wicket hauls, seven for 50 on first-class debut against a touring New Zealand and ten wickets in only his second Test against the same. Is that it? No: second-most winning Pakistan player (41 Test wins, behind Inzamam's 48), 18 match awards and seven series awards, captained Pakistan to the World Cup final in 1999, led them to series wins in England and India, Pakistan's last Test win in Australia and their only tri-series triumph in Australia in 1996-97, with a young, injury-ravaged squad. Satisfied?
What makes him special
A left arm, gifted, it was reputed, from God. What couldn't he do with it? Swing both ways and all kinds, cut, changes of pace, length, angles. Mark Taylor once said he could bowl four balls in an over on the same spot and get them to do four different things. Often, he got one delivery to do four different things. Short, randomly-calculated run-up and a whizzing, economical action couldn't prevent injuries but on his day - and there were plenty - he was the finest fast bowler on the planet and no one had more variety.
Finest hour
Melbourne, Wednesday, March 25, 1992. He began by pelting an adrenaline-fuelled 33 off 18 balls, to drag Pakistan to 249. As England began the chase, he dazed them by dismissing Ian Botham. Then, as they revived, he came back in the 35th over to deliver the knock-out in the middle order with two of the most famous - and unplayable - deliveries in World Cup history. Be warned though: given how many moments he did have, it is unlikely this is a unanimous choice.
How history views him
Tricky. On the field, as a cricketer, he was undoubtedly one of Pakistan's greatest and, for much of the nineties, one of the best in the world. Off it, though, he was dogged by controversy through the mid-90s. Hindsight affords captaincy tantrums, player politics and ball tampering the status of storms in teacups - and anyway, how can anyone really begrudge an art as beautiful as reverse swing? But the stain of match-fixing, proven or otherwise, is an altogether more difficult one to wipe away. Will forever be the "Yes, but..." to his career.
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that the absence of India's opening batsman Virender Sehwag in the first two Test matches in England will be a great advantage for the hosts. Sehwag, who is yet to recover from a shoulder injury, has been included in the 17-member Test squad but will miss the first two Tests.
