Chennai: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has voiced support for Sourav Ganguly, saying that one bad series wasn’t enough for a player to be “sidelined.”

“The culture in this part of the world is different... One bad series is not enough to suggest that a player should be sidelined,” he said when asked about the recent furore involving Sourav and Team India coach Greg Chappell.

“A coach’s job is to handle the players, and it is necessary to talk with a bit of affection? Once he does that, a player will do anything”, he added.

“It is unfortunate that when a player is down, he is pushed further down,” Akram said here on Monday night (as reported in Tuesday’s Late City edition).

“All cricketers go through such a stage. Sourav is only 33 and has some more cricket left,” he added.

The former Pakistan captain also felt that that paceman Zaheer Khan, who has been dropped from the Indian squad, should have retained as he has a lot of potential.

On Sachin Tendulkar, Akram said, “Sachin is definitely one of the best batsmen in the world. Definitely he will score his 35th century”.

Regarding the Test series and one-dayers between Pakistan and India slated to begin next month, he said it would be a close affair. “India-Pakistan matches will be close ones. No matter who wins or loses, it will be close,” the former left-arm fast bowler said.

On the possibility of him coaching the Indian team, he said, “It really doesn’t matter which team you are coaching. I got tips from the great Kapil Dev, so I would like to give back to the world what I know”.

On the decision taken by the BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board to play a series once in every two years, he said it was a “good idea”.

“A series every year will ultimately make people bored and lose interest in the game.”