Asia Cup: Wasim Akram backs Indian spinners to trouble Pakistan
What's the story
Former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram has backed India's spin attack to trouble Pakistan's middle-order in the upcoming Asia Cup clash. The match is scheduled for Sunday and India is likely to field three spinners: Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel. Akram believes that these bowlers could pose a challenge for the likes of Salman Agha, Hasan Nawaz, and Mohammad Haris.
Strategic insight
Akram on India's spin attack
In a media interaction organized by Sony Sports Network, Akram said, "The problem I see for Pakistan is their middle-order batting versus India's spinners." He added that while they may be able to handle Jasprit Bumrah, Varun and Kuldeep could prove difficult. "Varun and Kuldeep could trouble the batters. If a batter tries to read the ball after it has pitched, it means you have no idea what is happening," Akram said.
DYK
Kuldeep's heroics against UAE
Notably, Kuldeep's excellent bowling effort helped India bundle out UAE for 57 runs in their opening T20 Asia Cup contest on Wednesday in Dubai. The wrist-spinner ended with figures worth 4/7 from 2.1 overs. In his 2nd over and the match's ninth, he picked three wickets, choking the UAE batters. Varun also bowled well to end up with 1/4 from two overs. India later won the game by nine wickets.
Nostalgic moment
Akram recalls Miandad's famous last-ball 6 against India
Akram, who has played many matches between India and Pakistan, also reminisced about the 1986 encounter where Javed Miandad hit Chetan Sharma for a last-ball six. He cheekily said that he had a role to play in Miandad's heroics as "the great Javed Miandad used my bat." Akram also recalled how hitting a six off the last ball was unheard of back then.