India has failed to guard its bowlers: Wasim Akram

The Asia Cup is set to begin in a matter of a couple of days. India will start their campaign against hosts Bangladesh in the tournament which will be played for the first time in a T20 format. However, the most awaited contest will be the India -Pakistan which will happen for the first time after the 50-over ICC World Cup last year. In an exclusive chat with TOI, Pakistan bowling legend Wasim Akram, who is in Bangladesh to do commentary for Star Sports, discussed Indian bowling in detail, Mohammed Shami’s struggle with injuries and more.

The ‘King of Swing’ said he’s looking forward to the Indo-Pak clash and the match assumes a lot of significance because it would be played in the T20 format.

“Yes, that’ll be a good game to look forward to and given the way India are playing right now, they’re clear favourites. The Asia Cup, this year, assumes a lot of significance particularly because of the T20 format that it’ll be played in. Out of the last five World T20 champions, three are participating in this Asia Cup so that quotient alone adds so much excitement.”

Akram also discussed the main reasons why Indian pace bowling is struggling He said that it is because ‘India has failed to guard its bowlers’

“First of all, there are just too many people that a bowler is talking to. The BCCI has to be very strict about it and tell the bowlers that they can only go to a certain academy or a BCCI-appointed coach and over there they should interact only with specified coaches with regards to their bowling.

“The more you start taking advice from multiple people, the more likely you are to enter a state of confusion. That’s exactly what had happened with Irfan Pathan. He went to too many people and lost his swing.”

“For the seniors, you need high-end mentors who can spend time with the bowlers, talk to them and try and imbibe or nurture the psyche of bowling.”

“There’ve been so many Indian bowlers who, when they arrive at the international stage, bowl at 140-145 kmph and in a year or two, the pace just dips.”

The legend also states that he has no problems in bowlers changing their action as  long as it doesn’t mess with the speed and swing.

“I’m all for changing actions. But what’s more important for me is that if a bowler’s got pace and can swing the ball, then I won’t mess with his action.”

“Because that action has been part of the bowler’s regimen for a while and the muscles have got accustomed to that action. If you change the action, you not only stand to lose pace but the swing also disappears.”

Akram also reasoned why Mohammad Shami is currently struggling to back in to the match fit form. Shami, who had recovered from a knee injury which required surgery, was named for the Asia Cup but later his name was pulled out due to doubts over his fitness.

“When I came to know that Shami was making a comeback for the tour of Australia last month, I told Harsha (Bhogle): `You wait and watch, this guy will probably pull his hamstring.”

“You need to properly play a full season of first class cricket after a knee injury before you return to international cricket. Forget the operated knee, that’s healing or maybe already healed.”

He feels that bowlers should not be rushed into international cricket after an injury, They should be monitored under right guidance and should have right people around them

“Bowlers need to be taken care of, constantly monitored and most importantly , they need to have the right people around.”