"Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz thought they'll play leagues around the world, make money" : Wasim Akram

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Waqar Younis "my first words to all of our bowlers is that your country and playing Test cricket for Pakistan always comes first. The other formats come next and then playing in Leagues should always come after playing for your country" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1212745381609660417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Waqar Younis on Wahab & Amir Test retirements "They made it a very difficult time for us & we were left with a very young bowling attack. It was hurtful & if they'd wanted to do it, they could've done it in a better way. Doing it at that time wasn't very pleasant at all" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1212756420749398023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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[Savak]

Wahab is 35 years old and had been ignored in the test format for a long time. He rightfully called it a day in the longer format. Less said about Amir the better.

 

[Mamoon]

I think we need to look at it from a different perspective as well.

Just like how some of us so-called fans lament their misfortune of being Pakistani supporters, it is possible that some of the players feel that way as well.

The dressing room culture is rotten and PCB is not a body that you would want to work for. Besides, who would want to work with Misbah and Waqar at the moment.

So perhaps we cannot really blame these players for looking for a way out when they can and T20 leagues give them that opportunity.

They earn more money, enjoy more free time and do not have to deal with the PCB. Wahab’s case is different but it seems that Amir genuinely does not enjoy playing for Pakistan.

It seems like a burden to him and it is quite likely that he will retire altogether after the 2023 World Cup.

 

[MenInG]

Waqar Younis in his interview with PP

PakPassion.net: How disappointing is it to see senior pace-bowlers, some of whom should be at their peak, giving up Test cricket?

Waqar Younis: It’s not been received very well by everyone in Pakistan has it. They were sudden retirements just before the tough tour of Australia which made it a very difficult time for us. We were left with and exposed by having a very young bowling attack. It was hurtful at the time and if they wanted to do it, they could have done it in a better way, but coming at that time was not very pleasant at all. They received a lot of criticism, but it was entirely up to them how they wanted to play it. Whether they want to continue playing One-Day cricket or Twenty20 cricket is entirely up to them and if both Wahab and Amir want to continue playing for Pakistan and they are available for their country, then that’s two more bowlers who are part of our group of pace-bowlers.

 

[Junaids]

And didn’t Wasim Akram drop out of the 2002-03 tour of South Africa at the last minute, while miraculously being available for the World Cup?

And didn’t Waqar and Wasim both drop out of the Third Test v Australia in 1994-95 with “injuries” when they had fallen out with Saleem Malik?

Wasim and Waqar shouldn’t throw stones given that they both live in glass houses.

 

[CricketDon]

Amir will retire after 2023 World Cup and focus on T20 leagues.

 

[Markhor]

That's a lie from Waqar, Amir and Riaz retired back in July not "suddenly before the Australia series".

You had plenty of time to identify replacements but you decided to pick duds like Musa Khan and 32 years young Imran Khan !

Also Amir and Riaz are still part of the white ball teams yet Waqar is blasting them publicly. No wonder he was sacked as captain and coach (twice) with these man management skills.

 

[moghul]

Don;t know what is the fuss about Wahab, he is pretty much done with Pakistan team, not going to be selected anymore even available. Amir is a different issue.

 

[Snowflake]

Sad to see Wahab being grouped with Amir here.

 

[MenInG]

So no Wahab and Amir in Pakistan T20I squad vs Bangladesh.

 

[aukhan]

Isn't it atleast better than fixing games to make money?

 

[minamino]

I am pretty surprised that a lot of Pakistani players have not gone this league mercenary route. They earn peanuts from PCB and PSL is not enough either for their talent. Players with significantly less talent earn in millions from IPL.

 

[andy0204]

Wasim should be last person to say this because he himself was saved by Justice Qayyum

 

[S_haq]

I am pretty surprised that a lot of Pakistani players have not gone this league mercenary route. They earn peanuts from PCB and PSL is not enough either for their talent. Players with significantly less talent earn in millions from IPL.

the IPL ban on Pakistani players is a blessing for us

 

[minamino]

the IPL ban on Pakistani players is a blessing for us

For you it might be but not for the players.

 

[S_haq]

For you it might be but not for the players.

No i have no vested interest in the Pakistani team, i meant Pakistan as a nation

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good morning Lahore visited bagh e Jinnah all the childhood memories rushed back . Use to come here with my friends to play cricket and the wall behind me in the picture where we all Use to jump over to the Zoo . <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nostalgia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#nostalgia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/childhoodmemories?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#childhoodmemories</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/amazingplaces?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#amazingplaces</a> <a href="https://t.co/xGDnESt7GE">pic.twitter.com/xGDnESt7GE</a></p>— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) <a href="https://twitter.com/wasimakramlive/status/1235806033676611584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Abdullah719]

"I don’t judge bowlers on the basis of their T20 performance" : Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believes T20 cricket is no criteria to judge a bowler or his performance. Akram, believed to be as the best left-arm fast bowler of all time, reckons that even though T20 cricket has its set of advantages, youngsters, mostly bowlers, need to play more of the longer format if they are to prepare themselves for the long run.

“The amount of cricket happening has changed everything. T20 cricket does not make bowlers. Back when we used to play, it was six months playing for the national team and another six months for county team. Youngsters need to play more First-Class cricket to learn bowling,” Akram told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube Channel.

“T20 is amazing, good entertainment; there’s plenty of money involved and I’m all in for the importance of money in a sport and the players. But I don’t judge bowlers on the basis of their T20 performance. I do on the basis of seeing how they fare in the longer format.”

Recalling his initial days as a Pakistan cricketer, Akram said he had absolutely no clue about the talent he had as a 17-year-old. Akram, who made his ODI debut in 1984, and in Tests a year later, revealed how he would overhear his idols Imran Khan and Javed Miandad talk about him in a promising tone, but had no idea what it meant or where it came from.

“When I was new into the team, I used to listen to Imran Khan, Javed Miandad talking among themselves that ‘this boy is a special talent’. So when I asked them what is so special about me? They said things like ‘my pace is deceptive, and I swing the ball’. So then I began working on those aspects. When I went on first tour and got 10 wickets, I realised how amazing it was - playing with your idols, for the country, getting paid and I thought this should go on for 20 years,” Akram added.

Known as one of pioneers of reverse-swing in bowling, Akram explained the importance of youngsters to think out of the box, an approach the former pacer revealed he took to pretty early in his career.

“Very few left-arm pacers used to bowl round the wicket when I started. As a youngster I thought if I bowl from this side, a different angle will generate and batsmen will find it tough. Those were the things I learnt on my own. I picked up the old ball in the nets, and tried out things like hiding myself behind the umpire during my run-up. The point is to create doubt in the mind of batsmen and that’s what I wanted to do,” Akram pointed out.

“I see so many fast bowlers these days, running in the entire day, bowling with the same run-up, same pace, without variations. That won’t make a batsman think. A have to keep them guessing what he’s coming up with next. There are so many little things that a bowler can do to trouble a batsman.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...wasim-akram/story-f3ctktaczrbvwN7jISAW5O.html

 

[MenInG]

Wasim says that about T20 but he works himself for a T20 League - is he saying that performances of bowlers in such a format dont matter?

 

[MenInG]

Legendary Wasim Akram believes that someone like Jasprit Bumrah shouldn’t exhaust himself by playing county cricket as he is already playing three formats of international cricket.

“Cricket has become too much today. A guy like Bumrah being a top bowler, India's No.1. I would have suggested him to relax and not run after county cricket. Young players need to play more first class cricket and from there they will learn bowling,” Akram said.

However, Test cricket remains the ultimate format for the ‘Sultan of Swing’.

“T20 is amazing, good entertainment; there’s plenty of money involved and I’m all in for the importance of money in a sport and the players,” Akram, regarded as one of the greatest left-arm pacers the game has ever produced told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“They won’t learn bowling from T20. I don’t judge a player by T20 performance. I judge them from their performances in longer version of cricket.”

Akram also recalled his initial days as an international cricketer and said he absolutely had no clue about his talent.

“When I came into the team as a youngster I used to listen to Imran (Khan) bhai, Javed (Miandad) bhai, Mudassar Nazar that this kid has talent but that time I didn’t understand what they were trying to say.

“Then I asked Imran Khan and he said your pace is deceptive and need to swing the ball and then I started to work on those areas.

“Nothing comes easy was one advice which I learnt from all these three players, although their ways were different. As a bowler our job is to create doubts in the minds of the batsmen. I enjoyed the tag that I am talented,” said Akram.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/jasprit-bumrah-county-cricket-wasim-akram/article31551407.ece

 

[The Viper]

He is correct to an extent that lots of T20 cricket is being played and some average bowlers as a whole can succeed in T20 cricket. Cheap wickets can be picked up in T20.

 

[chazam]

Wasim says that about T20 but he works himself for a T20 League - is he saying that performances of bowlers in such a format dont matter?

i think he also knows T20 is good for generating money, bringing new kind of audiences and for fun.
But to be known as a serious cricketer, Test Cricket is paramount.
T20 even Stuart broad was hit for 6 sixes. But Broad is a Test great.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

I just hope he would for once would get involved with the national team for a time period. He has never worked with our team apart from the bowling camps. His method of communication and may well be better than Waqar and his work ethic is certainly different from Waqar's. It could well be a positive change, but every time he rebuffs the offer and says he either has media commitments or is busy.
It's sad how the ones from Pakistan who should be teaching/coaching the current take up hands off or sort of easier jobs after retirement.

 

[MenInG]

So if the rumours are correct - Amir and Wahab are about to face the music for their decisions by losing contracts

 

[Rayyman]

So if the rumours are correct - Amir and Wahab are about to face the music for their decisions by losing contracts

Amir said his body wasn’t fit for Test cricket, but maybe this break from the sport can his decision.

 

[MenInG]

So rumours were correct.

Wonder how Wasim and Amir relationship would be at KK given Wasim's views on him?