Akram advised to quit gracefully

“He is no more a match winner and cannot bowl 10-15 overs in a spell so it’s useless for him to drag on,” former Test fast bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz told reporters. Asked whether Wasim should be allowed to complete 400 Test wickets, Nawaz said, “not at National cost. He has let down the team in the Rawalpindi Test.”

Akram has 383 wickets in 92 Tests but is ruled out of the series with a groin injury. He needs another 51 wickets to match Indian pacer Kapil Dev’s record of 434 wickets. Nawaz said Wasim was not fully fit for the longer version of the game.

“Akram can’t even take wickets in the initial overs of the one-dayers and if he wants to play limited over games he should bowl first change,” he said. Nawaz, who partnered the legendary Imran Khan in his career spanning 55 Tests with 177 wickets, said Pakistan should forge a new attack pair of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Akram. Akhtar too sustained groin injury ahead of the Rawalpindi Test.

Former batsman and coach Haroon Rasheed said Akram was the best judge to decide when to bid adieu. “A player can gauge himself when to say goodbye but we do not have such a tradition in Pakistan, only Asif Iqbal quit at the right time,” Rasheed said. “It is very tough for him to sustain such a pressure anymore and that too with diabetic problems.”

Former wicket-keeper Taslim Arif cited Australian Ian Healy’s example, saying: “I think Healy quit at the peak of his career, Akram is no more a threat to batsmen. In my opinion it’s time for him to say goodbye gracefully.”

But former captain Zaheer Abbas disagreed. “In my opinion he still has much cricket left in him and he can serve the country.” He termed fitness problem as momentary and said Akram would bounce back. “We need him and he can still deliver the goods.”

Injury rules out ex-Pak skipper from Test seriesPakistan’s chances of reversing their cricketing fortunes received a cruel blow on Tuesday when pace king Wasim Akram was ruled out of the Test series against Sri Lanka.

Akram suffered a groin injury after bowling just 13 deliveries on day one of the first Test which began yesterday. “He suffered a groin injury and it can only heal in two weeks so he is feared out of the series,” Pakistan’s team doctor Riaz Ahmed told reporters.

“He was feeling well last night but in the morning his injury worsened and he only has a outside chance of playing the third Test at Karachi,” Ahmed said. Akram, 32, was not available for comment.

The recent injury leaves a shadow of doubt over Akram’s career as he is reportedly having problems with the management of Pakistan’s Cricket Board. The second test is scheduled at Peshawar from March 5 and the third at Karachi from March 12. “A groin injury heals up only with rest and swimming and Wasim is doing that,” Ahmed said.