- Legendary fast bowler interacts with the Pakistan national women’s team via videoconference call
- Urdu version of the media release is available here
Lahore, 4 May 2020: ICC hall of famer and former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram on Monday advised the Pakistan national women’s team to watch more and more cricket during on the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown as it helps in creating match awareness.
Recalling his playing days, the legendary fast bowler said it was because of 1992 World Cup winning team’s captain Imran Khan that he developed the habit of watching other teams play.
“I remember during our one of the tours of Australia,” Wasim said in an online session with the women's team, “we used to train in the morning. Because of the heat and rigorous training, I was once feeling sleepy but Imran bhai told me to watch a match between Australia and West Indies and said that he will ask me questions about it. He made me watch the match so I could make better decisions by learning from what the other teams were doing.”
Emphasising on the importance of hard work, Wasim said while the national women’s team possessed the desired skill set to progress at the international stage it needed to work on the physical fitness to further enhance their fielding.
He advised Bismah Maroof, the captain, to put in extra yards to be the role model for the players. “As a captain, you have to inspire your team,” he said. “I used to work on my fielding for at least an hour during my captaincy as I had to stay inside the circle.”
Wasim spoke at length about his journey on how he became a fast bowling icon and attributed it to sheer hard work. He revealed that he used to try different bowling angles during his stints at Lancashire and experimented with his run up that made him a street smart bowler.
He advised the bowlers to have at least three different deliveries in mind in their run up while bowling in the death overs and to be prepared for every possible scenario before the match.
“Visualisation is the key to counter pressure. Always isolate yourself a night before the match and think about different situations and how will you operate in them.”
