Mohammed Hafeez

Karachi: Wasim Akram has called on the Pakistani openers to seek inspiration and learn from the exploits of Sachin Tendulkar.

Wasim also expressed his frustration over Pakistan’s performance against Zimbabwe on Monday.

The former fast bowler called on openers, Mohammed Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad to learn the art of batting and building an innings from the Little Master.

The two openers have failed to provide a single decent start to Pakistan in five matches of the World Cup and Wasim felt both needed to rethink their approach to batting.

“They should learn from Tendulkar… Look at him, he is 38 plus and yet he is still going strong. He just plays normal cricket in the first ten overs and does not gift his wicket,” Akram said.

“Tendulkar is a role model for many others and the Pakistani openers should learn from him how to build an innings and how to tackle dicey conditions. Shahzad is immensely talented but the moment the ball does a little movement he either starts shuffling across the line or moves in his crease gifting his wicket. Hafeez is also getting out constantly shuffling across,” he explained.

“Even if you have scored 50 odds runs in the first 12 or 15 overs and have wickets in hand you are in a good position. And Pakistan’s strength is that if they have wickets in hand they can go for quick runs in the final overs,” Akram said.

The former Pakistan skipper pointed out that Tendulkar was still going strong as he stuck to the basics and didn’t try anything extraordinary.

“His hunger for runs is astonishing,” he said.

Akram believes the Pakistan team has the mettle to win the World Cup but they have been too rusty so far.

“I want this team to win the World Cup and they can do it. Every Pakistani wants the team to win the tournament but their approach is frustrating. Zimbabwe were outclassed by every team that they played against. But our team approached the game as if they were nervous and scared,” Akram said.

“Our team needs to adopt a more pro-active approach and show natural aggression. You can’t win the World Cup with a defensive mindset and I am frustrated that we didn’t beat Zimbabwe more convincingly. This was our chance to send out a clear signal to the other teams,” he added.

The former captain also said that the Pakistan team management needs to work out issues.