Chennai: Wasim Akram has seen Indian cricket from close quarters for four decades now. When he says the current Indian bunch across formats is the best he’s ever seen, you take note. The pace maestro spoke about India’s aura, Jasprit Bumrah’s greatness, Pakistan’s recent struggles and a lot more. Excerpts… Does this Indian team have an aura of invincibility? I think so. In the 1990s, (India-Pakistan matches) used to be 60-40 in Pakistan’s favour. But now, not just against Pakistan, India is the team to beat against any nation. For the last five years, India have been the best in the world. It’s an incredible accumulation of talent. They are physically and mentally very strong. The only challenge now is not to be over-confident.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! But does this Indian attack invoke the same fear that the Pakistan bowling attack, led by you, invoked in the 1990s? I don’t believe in comparing eras. The mindset of the batters in the 1990s used to be different — they used to defend a lot more. Now there is a lot more pressure even in Test cricket, even a great ball goes for six. I’ll give the modern-day bowler more credit. Should pace ace Jasprit Bumrah be allowed to pick and choose his games? I’m quite happy to see the way the Indian team is managing Bumrah. It’s impossible for any human being to play three formats all the time. He is a special bowler, the No. 1 in the world, and if he needs the rest, you should give him the rest. India have good enough back-up. I loved the way Mohammed Siraj bowled his heart out in England, sprinting in every ball. This Indian attack is such fun to watch.Coming to Sunday’s India-Pakistan game, what are the kind of match-ups that you’re looking forward to? Can Pakistan make a match of it? Pakistan will probably manage a couple of overs of Bumrah in the beginning, but the problem will be when their middle-order faces the Indian wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy. If you are not playing them from their hands and try to play them off the pitch, you’ll be in trouble. My advice to the Pakistan team would be to just relax and enjoy the atmosphere. It’ll be a packed house, the whole country will be watching, and they should try not to overthink once the team meeting is done. With Babar Azam not being picked for the Asia Cup, do you think this is the end of his T20 career? I don’t want to discuss what his future is. This is a young team with a different mindset. In the last tri-series, they hit about 40 plus sixes, about nine per game. We’ve never seen that before from Pakistan. We tried Babar and Mohammed Rizwan for about five-six years at the top of the order but they didn’t change their games. But then, Babar is a top player, and you never know. Do you think Afghanistan have overtaken Pakistan as the second-best team in Asia? Afghanistan are a good side. They recently beat Pakistan but Pakistan won the final. I’m fascinated by the number of mystery spinners they are unearthing. They can even beat India on their day. Pakistan and Afghanistan are right now equal; they are both No. 2. What do you think is wrong with Shaheen Afridi and Pakistan cricket in general? Shaheen has been playing for a long time. He is the most experienced bowler, so he should be the leader of this pack. The problem with Pakistan is there is no consistency in administration as well. The chairman is there for four years, but once he is gone, he is not allowed to enter the office. So we have to be organized — there is only one game left in Pakistan that unites us all and we have to focus on that as a nation. How do you see Pakistan performing from here on up until the T20 World Cup? They are young, they are not going to win 10 out of 10 games, they might win six or seven, but it’s the intent that matters. They should not be playing for their averages; all that they should worry about is strike-rate. Yes, there will be the odd occasion they will get bowled out for 80, but eventually, they’ll get there.
