Pakistan can definitely qualify for semis at this year's World Cup: Wasim Akram

KARACHI: Former captain and the sultan of swing Wasim Akram feels “Pakistan can definitely qualify for the top four” in this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup scheduled to be played in India.

The ICC has announced the schedule of the tournament on Tuesday afternoon and Wasim feels that Pakistan will go into the tournament with confidence.

“Pakistan has the potential to definitely qualify for the top four, conditions are favourable to us, we will go full of confidence, we always are confident in sub-continent conditions, be it India, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. So, Pakistan definitely has a chance to qualify for the top four,” he said.

Wasim also put his weight behind Babar Azam saying there’s no problem in his captaincy and he is going on the right track.

“There’s no lacking in Babar’s captaincy we find lacking in it, he is doing well, he is on the right track, he shouldn’t be worried about anything. Focus, have fun and remember the whole country is behind you,” he said when asked about the captain.

Wasim also spoke highly of pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi and said that the more he plays the better he would become.

The former captain added that Shaheen is making a comeback from a knee injury and it is never too easy for a fast bowler to quickly regain the pace after returning from such an injury because, at the back of the mind, there will always be this fear of injury surfacing again.

On the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman's appointment, Wasim said that the uncertainty in command puts stress on the players.

“This uncertainty in the PCB is stress for players, we used to feel the same stress in this type of situation thinking what new policy would be or will the new chairman continue with the same captain, so it makes things uncertain”

“Whatever you want to do — get it done and move on. Now I see cases being dragged in courts, this isn’t funny anymore,” he added.

Talking about objections over venues, Wasim said that Pakistan must avoid unnecessary stress over these issues and there is no harm in playing matches at venues where they are scheduled.

“I am all for egos, if you have ego and if you think you can stand by your stance then you must speak. But then move on, but always think before saying anything, but if you can’t then don’t talk about it, everyone is patriotic for their country. But I must say that this is just a game. Take it as a game,” he said.

Wasim also spoke about the thankless nature of stakeholders in the game saying that people are never happy, no matter what PCB does.

“We are never happy, make whoever the coach, we will find the problem in him anyway. You do A, we will question why you didn’t do B, you do A and B, we will ask why C isn’t done and it goes on. I don’t know how it is going to work,”

“I am hearing first time about online coaching, but there’s always a first time, let's see how it goes,” he concluded.