Re: Shoaib Akhter - Dilemma ends (Merged)
Legendary wasim akram has something to say about shoaib akhtar, in today’s news. Please read very carefully as it has answers to most of the comments seen in this thread from anti shoaib akhar group.
KARACHI: Pakistan’s former captain Wasim Akram remains a high profile figure in the world of cricket. Given his astounding success as a southpaw fast bowler, who ended up with 414 Test and 502 one-day wickets, what he says on cricket affairs matters a lot.
And on Saturday in an interview he made it clear he was not happy with the way the Pakistan cricket Board (PCB), its selectors and even the team management were handling the Shoaib Akhtar issue.
“Shoaib is a match winner and a quality fast bowler. He should be in the team. If he has any disciplinary, commitment or attitude problems, it is the job of the board and team management to sort it out. But just on this basis you cannot keep on ignoring him,” he said on the decision to drop the fast bowler for the West Indies tour.
"He played under my captaincy a lot and it is true he has a bit of an excessive lifestyle. But on the field frankly speaking he tried hard and was quite successful. Because we knew how to use him.
“My contention is that he should have been picked for the West Indies tour and if Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bob Woolmer have any problems with his attitude and commitment they can easily enough just send him back home. That would be a lesson for him. But it is the team that loses out if use is not made of his skills,” Wasim stated.
Reminded that the board had said he was not fit enough to be considered for the West Indies tour, Wasim hit out at the system of checking the fitness of pace bowlers in Pakistan.
“Look I have been through this phase and believe these people on the medical panels they don’t have a clue of the chemistry or fitness requirements for a pace bowler. Someone like Shoaib Akhtar who is an out and out fast bowler needs to be handled differently fitness wise. It is a folly to judge his fitness on the criteria set for others,” said Wasim.
"He has put on some weight but it is natural that when a fast bowler come backs from an injury he puts on weight. The more he keeps on playing competitive matches he gets better. I don’t think Shoaib would have been able to play in some of the domestic matches if he had not been fit at all.
“What did the board or management have to lose by taking him to the West Indies. If he is not fit he would naturally have sat out of matches there and the board would have been justified to send him back home and been in a stronger position to tackle him in the future,” he added.
“Shoaib is not getting younger and the board, selectors and team management need to devise a plan to get the best out of him until the 2007 World Cup. He will continue to have fitness niggles because he is structured like that and bowls off a long run-up. But the fact is that he is a match winner and the team needs him.”
Wasim also felt that the bowling attack would struggle on the West Indies wickets without Shoaib and Mohammad Sami who is also out of contention for another two weeks because of a recent heel surgery.
“The wickets in the West Indies are slow and you require to dig the ball in and pace always comes handy there. The bowlers they have picked for the tour are all honest hard working bowlers but they don’t have the pace to trouble the batsmen on the West Indies pitches where the best way of taking wickets is to reverse swing the ball and dig it in.”
The former captain insisted that the board needed to sort out any problems between Shoaib and the management.
Wasim also advised the Board, selectors and management to come out of the honeymoon of the Indian tour.
"The team performed magnificently in India and did the nation proud. But you can’t keep on just taking decisions based on that one series. It does not work like that in cricket. I would advise them to start looking ahead. India and West Indies are two different challenges.
"Definitely Pakistan goes to the West Indies in a confident mood and they should start off as favourites to win the one-day and Test series because the boys are in form and on a high. But it will not be easy.
As the West Indian players have always been tough opponents at home. It would be a folly to think we can roll over them on the basis of their recent performances against South Africa. In recent years South Africa has been the only side that has dominated the West Indians at home and away," he noted.
Wasim also felt that the selectors should be counting Moin Khan in their scheme of things. “Moin is a true fighter and he still has a lot to give to Pakistan cricket. He had a bad time last year but he has found his form and is very experienced. There is no harm in playing him and keeping Kamran Akmal in the team as his reserve.”
SOURCE
http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2005-daily/08-05-2005/sports/s1.htm
Some people got Wasim’s endoresement. Look at the article above here where Wasim Akram said “You can’t sit someone out because he doesn’t listen”. For the time being ignore who said it, just read what he said… its really sad that it came out of Wasim Akram.