Sports

We cannot keep away cricket from Pakistan: Wasim Akram

Legendary left-arm fast bowler says people in Pakistan are passionate about the game of cricket

Sports Desk June 04, 2015

PHOTO COURTESY: GULF NEWS

KARACHI: Legendary fast bowlers Wasim Akram said that the fervor shown by the crowd during the Zimbabwe series proves the point that they cannot be deprived of cricket for a longer time, reported Gulf News.

Wasim was talking to a press during the presentation ceremony of the Masters Champions League (MCL) which will start in February 2016. It will feature all the iconic players across the globe.

When asked about the blast that happened during the second ODI outside Gaddafi stadium, Wasim said: “I only hope that it will not prevent teams from visiting Pakistan. Everything went smoothly apart for that one incident and that too it is not concrete and nobody knows what really happened in that particular incident.

“It should be noted that all the five games against Zimbabwe were packed though it was 48 degrees hot. People were queuing up three to four hours before the game and the whole country watched every ball. This is the passion we have in Pakistan for the game and we cannot keep away cricket from Pakistan.

“This is the first step that has been taken by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to bring back cricket to Pakistan and so well done to PCB and thanks to Zimbabwe,” he added.

When asked which past player he would have loved to see in action, especially in Twenty20 format, Akram said: “There are a lot of players who retired before this format. If I have to watch any bowler bowling in Twenty20 I will pick Australia’s Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. It is indeed great to imagine Thommo running in to bowl at WACA in a Twenty20 match.

“In batting obviously I would have loved to watch one and only Viv Richards bat in the Twenty20 format.”

Talking about playing in the MCL, Akram said: “It will be fun and exciting. We are all looking forward to it something very different and which I thought will never happen. Frankly, I never thought I would be asked to come and play a game again, although cricket is the only thing we know.

Read:

“Let us hope the first edition is a success and everybody is looking good and will try and give hundred per cent in the matches.

“The idea of staging MCL is very good as there are only a few who are lucky to gets jobs as commentators or coaches after retirement and the rest are struggling. The idea of this tournament is to help these guys come back and earn some money and play the sport they always loved.”

COMMENTS (2)

ramallah khan | 8 years ago | Reply I hope Wasim knows that cricket was not banned in Pakistan because there were not enough crowds. Also every one knows that most of the Pakistanis love cricket. But the country is also filled with right wing terrorist who stop at nothing before killing people and so security of players is the main concern. Also it cannot be denied that there was an attempt made to disrupt the Zimbabwe second ODI by a human bomber who blew himself up outside Gadafi stadium. Also spectators were asked to go thro three tier security check before entering the stadium and matches were held at only one stadium. Isn't this all because security is still a big concern in Pakistan.

nizamuddin khan | 8 years ago | Reply Yes, it would be great to return to the days when international teams visited Pakistan and we had the ability to host games in several major cities. Times have changed and so have the priorities. I am not sure if we are ready to be humiliated in front of the home crowd by Australia, South Africa or New Zealand, or even India for that matter. Could we focus on building a great team first?

Replying to X