Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram came down hard on the batters of Babar Azam-led side after the hosts stumbled to an eight-wicket loss in the sixth T20I against England on Friday. In a chat with Pakistan batting coach Mohammad Yousuf, Akram questioned the versatility of Pakistan batters, saying one should forget about playing 360 degrees, but they should at least try playing 180 degrees.
Akram also questioned the ability of Pakistani players to hit boundaries all over the ground.
“Ben Duckett doesn’t let the bowlers, especially the spinners settle when they come on to bowl. He plays shots everywhere. If I were playing against Pakistan, I would know where the batters would hit their shots. They are not versatile. No one even tries to do something out of the ordinary,” Akram told Yousuf in a television chat.
“360 is a bit too much to ask for, just play 180 degrees. This is the practice you do, and if you do then why don’t you apply in the match,” he added further.
Yousuf tried his best to answer Akram’s query and he said: “I’m making a conscious effort. I talk to (spin bowling coach) Saqlain bhai about this. When they play spinners, I stand behind and suggest our batsmen a number of different shots, play this shot at this ball, this at this.”
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“The first stage is to practice in the nets, the second is to implement those in practice games, but we don’t get too many of those. We keep telling that if there is an intent, there is no problem in getting out. The intent, in the modern game, is to hit a boundary every ball, if it’s a difficult ball, take a single. That’s the demand of modern-day cricket. The players know that and they are trying,” he added.
In the sixth T20I, England chased down 170 in the 15th over of the innings and Pakistan bowlers had no answers to what was being thrown at them. Pakistan had posted 169 runs, owing to an 87-run knock by skipper Babar Azam.
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