Pakistan are struggling in international cricket, and the recent tour of England has exposed the shortcomings of their system. Barring young Razaullah, who has done well on his debut with the bat and ball, the remaining players haven’t been able to put up a fight in the ongoing tour.
Legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram recently spoke to YouTuber Furqan during the ongoing Birmingham Test match. The 60-year-old slammed the PCB for not identifying talented players from the Pakistan Super League. He then gave the example of Vaibhav Sooryavanshiwho has taken the world by storm with his batting and became the youngest debutant for India during the T20I against England in Manchester.
Akram said, “It has been over ten years since PSL started. Did we find any world-class batter? The league has given us a few bowlers but no batting talents. Only when we find a talent like Sooryavanshi, we would see some improvement in the batting department.”
The 15-year-old scored 776 runs for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 and also hit 72 sixes, which is a record in a single season. The youngster also scored an 11-ball fifty for India A against Sri Lanka A, which is a record in the List A format. He soon made his way to the Indian side, but found the going tough in English conditions. Vaibhav then found his touch in Zimbabwe, where he scored two fifties and was named the Player of the Series.
Wasim Akram also gave an insightful tip on how to improve the red-ball cricket fortunes of Pakistan. “Club cricket has to be revived if we wish to improve in the red-ball format. Pakistani board should spend a lot of money in Karachi and Lahore, as good talent comes from club cricket.”
Legendary pacer pinpoints huge flaws in batting
After not crossing 200 in the first five innings, thevisiting side,led by Babar Azamposted their highest total of the series as they crossed the 400-run mark. Speaking about the batting, Wasim said: “During the ongoing series in England, the batters didn’t move their front foot forward and played bowlers like Ollie Robinson from the back foot. You need courage to play, but for that, it is key to have talent.”
He also said the addition of the left-arm seamer Akif Javed would have been great in England if the selectors didn’t want Shaheen Afridi for the Test format. He also wondered how Shaheen’s pace had dropped and said that the pacer should have been in the squad.