Sri Lanka Cricket has roped in former Pakistan cricket legend; Wasim Akram as a fast-bowling consultant to develop the skills of the Lankan fast bowlers.
After attending the Dialog Cricket Awards 2016 as a guest of honour yesterday, Akram had a special training session with the fast-bowlers in the current national setup at the SSC grounds.
“Today in the morning, there were a lot of bowlers including the great Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and it means everybody wanted to learn. The coaches, some of them I have played against Champaka Ramanayake, Chaminda Vaas and Ravindra Pushpakumara, they were all there. The idea is to work with all the coaches here so that they can follow up with whatever I have been teaching the boys. Hopefully the idea is to pinpoint a few young bowlers who can go on to play for Sri Lanka.” Akram said to the media.
Sri Lanka, I call it Heaven on Earth – Wasim Akram
The Sultan of Swing, Wasim Akram speaks about his bond with Sri Lanka at the Dialog Cricket Awards 2016.
Known to be a country which has produced many match-winning spinners in the past, Sri Lanka always banks on their slow bowlers to win them games but the trends have changed recently and Akram believes Sri Lanka has good potential when it comes to fast bowling talent.
“I think the Sri Lankan fast bowling future to me looks quite bright. What I look in a bowler to start off is his pace and swing. I am not a great believer of changing actions at this level, If I had to change somebody’s action, it has to be below U17, after that I reckon it’s too late. Quite a few U19 bowlers I worked with in the morning for a couple of hours, had the passion, the ability, they just need to learn a few things only. Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Cricket has always been close to my heart, for me it is still the best country in the world. “Akram stated.
Pakistan has always been the best Asian country when it comes to producing fast bowlers, Wasim Akram himself is the perfect example, Imran Khan, Waqar Younus and Shoaib Akthar are a few others to mention.
Akram has a different opinion on the current crop of fast bowlers in Pakistan and said, “I think the problem with our bowlers, Wahab Riaz and Mohommad Amir, they are not swinging the ball much. Pace is important, but if you ask a batsman, they would rather face pace than a medium pacer who swings the ball both ways. You have a good chance of picking up a wicket if the ball is swinging and that is where Pakistan is lacking now.”
Regarded as one of the best left-arm fast bowlers ever to grace the game, Akram took 414 Test wickets and 502 wickets in 356 one-day internationals which still remains as the Pakistan record. Akram is expected to help the Lankan fast bowlers whenever there is a window or a necessity and the current Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews was full of praise for the Pakistan legend who mentored the Lankan all-rounder a couple of years back at Kolkata Knight Riders, “It’s an absolute honour and privilege working with him. Everyone calls him the king of swing but I think he is the king of fast bowling.” Mathews said.
King of Sultan to launch SLC’s Legends Series on 1st December
Sri Lanka Cricket announced today that the man considered by many to be the best left-arm fast bowler of all time.
SLC Cricket Committee Chairman, Aravinda De Silva has publically admitted that Akram was his most feared bowler and believes bringing in these types of legends will surely benefit Sri Lanka Cricket on the long-run, He said, “As we look at the modern day games, we see that a lot of the trainers, Physios, try to make sure that the bowlers don’t bowl more than a certain number of deliveries, don’t play too many games and I think we need to strike a balance and look at why our bowlers are getting injured.”
“The pain barriers, some of these fast bowlers in the yesteryear, Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan and Wasim had to go through to play, especially Wasim who had constant groin injuries throughout his career made them great. I have had hydrocortisones to my groin and played cricket right through my career with that groin injury, only four years ago I had a surgery done and if I take one of the Test matches in 1999, a very important match against Pakistan, Arjuna Ranathunga batted with a fractured finger and saw us through to win the Test match. I think that sort of mental toughness is what we require and that’s what we are trying to bring in to these youngsters by bring down these legends, giving their insight into what they have achieved.” De Silva further stated.
After a successful tour of Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka are set for a tough challenger in South Africa to play 3 Tests, 3 T20Is and 5 ODIs starting December 26, with national coach Graham Ford warning of a stiff challenge from the in-form Proteas. Akram shared his insight on the South African conditions today.
“First when I came to have a chat with all the bowlers, I told them fast bowling is not easy and a fast bowle,r doesn’t matter how old he is, you will have niggles, sore backs, hamstring injuries, sore shoulders because on South African pitches, the sand content in the ground and the square is rock hard, so it’s not an easy job. In my time, I used to play even through pain, headaches and fever because after one session, everything is back to normal. Nowadays what’s happening is a little niggle they say I am not playing, that’s mental toughness. “Akram concluded.
