Recently, 17-year-old Pakistan left-arm spinner Faisal Akram made headlines, as he bowled Babar Azam in a practice match at the Gaddafi Stadium. The ball spun back and bamboozled the Pakistan skipper, and the spinner got his most memorable wicket.
“He [Babar] is a world-class player, so I was under a little bit of pressure early on. But Waqar [Younis] bhai, who was standing beside me as an umpire, gave me confidence and said that I can do it. I was bowling well at that time as well, so Babar bhai got a good ball and was dismissed. After that my confidence just sky rocketed,” Faisal told Cricket Pakistan in a chat.
The bowler now wants to pick up the wicket of Virat Kohli, and says it is his dream. “My dream is to get the wicket of Virat Kohli and hopefully it will come true,” he said.
He also spoke about Hardik Pandya. “I have had conversations with him [Hardik] on Instagram. He has sponsored a bat for me from there,” he said. “My favourite bowler in international cricket was Brad Hogg, who I have followed from the beginning and also try to copy.”
Meanwhile, India skipper Virat Kohli’s criticism of cramped scheduling after the third and final ODI against England may not amuse the Indian cricket board (BCCI) which had left it to the players to skip matches in case they needed a break.
Kohli had, on Sunday, said that “scheduling needs to be looked at in future… You can’t expect everyone to be at the same level of mental strength. Sometimes, you do get cooked and you do feel like a bit of a change”.
