Shoaib Akhtar Claims Pakistan’s Spin Approach is Selfish

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that Pakistan Cricket turned ‘selfish’ during his playing days.

Speaking to a news outlet, the Rawalpindi Express explained that growing up in his era, he could have idols like Imran Khan followed by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. These legendary players promoted the simple mindset of bowling fast regardless of the conditions, the stadium, or the country.

Shoaib Akhtar further stated that the aforementioned attitude got somewhat corrupted after 2000.

“When you don’t put the right people in the right jobs and you put the wrong mindset on the wrong jobs, this is exactly what happens. What you are seeing now did not happen overnight, it happened about two decades ago. Akhtar said, explaining the systematic decline of Pakistan Cricket.

He further commented, “What do we do from here? We either take a selfish approach, make a spinning track, to win games. Or we save the game [Test cricket]. I would rather see us save the game.”

Speaking further on the condition of fast bowling in Pakistan, Akhter said that Pakistan simply does not have bowlers who can bowl at speeds of over 150kph nowadays. Shoaib Akhtar also pointed out that the main reason for this is essentially because younger bowlers do not have the proper people to look up to nowadays.

“I believe there are no fast bowlers the Pakistan team can look up to and be inspired by. When they were young, these players only ever saw the defensive mindset,” Shoaib Akhtar summarised.