Battered India are scared of us, says Wasim Akram

Akram felt that it was imperative for India to tour Pakistan next year, as this would help a lot in normalising relations between the two countries. "Last year we played in India despite a lot of pressure on us from extremists and other elements who even dug up the Feroze Shah Kotla pitch to warn us not to tour India. But in the end we enjoyed that tour immensely and it was heartening to see the response of the Indian people towards us."

He said he was convinced India never wanted to play Pakistan in Toronto because if they intended to drop Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and others from the team, they would have done it then not waited for the ICC Knock-Out competition. "It strengthens my belief they are avoiding playing against us for cricketing reasons more then anything else."

Akram had no doubt that after dropping Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and others, the Indian team had been considerably weakened and would find it hard to win against any country. "Right now they just have one match winner in Sachin Tendulkar, but then cricket is not a individual sport it is a team game."

On the forthcoming tour by England, he believed they would be whipped badly in Pakistan conditions despite their glorious summer, which saw them beating Zimbabwe and the West Indies comprehensively.

"I don’t see them winning in Pakistan. Because they are just not adopting to playing in our conditions and I think Saqlain Mushtaq will be the match winner against them. He has been bowling brilliantly in the country championship and they are finding it hard to read him. I think he will be the key to us winning the series."

The former Pakistan captain had no doubt that spinning tracks should be prepared against England as their batsman were not adept at playing slow bowlers. "I don’t think we should rely on our fast bowlers, since they also have a couple of good pacers. Then our batsmen are also beter playing against the spinners."

He did not see his role confined to just that of a player against England, stating he knew their players inside out and their strengths and weaknesses and would transfer his experience and advice to the captain in the series. On relations between the two sides, he recalled that in the 1996 World Cup since he had a good rapport with Mike Atherton (who was captain then), both had tried their best to improve relations between the two sides and leave a good impression on the people.

Asked about the Pakistan Cricket Board issuing showcause notices to recover fines from the players and also about the fresh petition filed in the Sindh High Court, due to which he and other players had been summoned by the court on September 25th, Akram said since he had just returned from abroad he would not like to comment on these issues. "I first want to talk to the board people and then give my opinion."