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Akhtar no more a match winner: Akram

Source:PTI
January 23, 2005 21:20 IST

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram lambasted Shoaib Akhtar for his "immature" attitude and said the tearaway fast bowler has ceased to be a match winner anymore.

Akram said Akhtar must get his priorities right if he is to make the transition from being just a fast bowler to a great bowler.

"He [Shoaib] is just not a match winner anymore. He just comes and talks and plays one game, and then gets injured," Akram said in Dubai on Sunday.

"He's done that in almost every series for Pakistan. He just thinks he is too good."

Akram, only bowler to have taken over 400 wickets in both versions of the game, called Akhtar "a little immature" and said instead of talking big he should concentrate more on his game.

"He's the only one who praises himself all the time, which means there is something seriously wrong with him.

"He should let the ball talk. He talks before and then doesn't perform. He's just a little immature I suppose."

"He's got 100-odd wickets in each version of the game, and it would depend on him whether he wants to be a great bowler or whether he just wants to remain a fast bowler. He has to get his priorities right," Akram was quoted as saying by the City Times.

He blamed the Pakistan Cricket Board for the team's recent poor run and said the side could take years to come back to its winning ways.

"Our cricket board [PCB] ruined the team and then a few experienced players like myself, Waqar [Younis] and Saeed Anwar left the team and that must have really pushed them back. It will take them a few years, but they will come back."

On the Indian team, he said the new generation of players can take the team forward even though some of the seniors are nearing retirement.

"Age is a factor in the Indian team but there are a few positives there too. Like Irfan Pathan, who is the best bowler in the world at the moment. Then there is Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh who I feel will take Indian cricket ahead," he said.

Akram slammed the International Cricket Council for the way it has dealt with chucking in the game.

"The ICC has just gone mad," he said.

"They are just there and come out and create problems for cricketers," Akram said.

"They are more concerned with identifying the angles of chucking. All they do is talk about 11 and 15 degree angles of chucking.

"How would someone know what degree is a chuck and what isn't. It's simple, you either chuck or you don't. There is nothing in between here.

"So, they're just out of line and out of their minds. They just don't know what to do. The ICC has no idea how to tackle this situation and for that matter any situation. The ICC is the worst governing body for any sport in the world."

Akram also criticised the anti-corruption unit of the ICC for not doing its job properly.

"They [ACU] get a quarter of a million pounds every year and just sit there and send two guys all over the world who just attend matches everywhere. No reports, nothing. The ICC has to change its stance in general."

The former left-arm seamer also favoured shifting of the ICC's headquarters from London to Dubai.

"It is one of the best destinations in the world. If they want to expand the game then it's important that Dubai becomes the headquarters."

Source: PTI
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