Akram wants to see some fresh faces in the India squad

Former Pakistan pace bowler Wasim Akram believes the future of India’s bowling looks extremely grim, especially after their performance against England during the four-Test series and arch-rivals Pakistan in the limited overs series that followed.

Akram feels that it is time for India to introduce some fresh talent in the squad after none of their bowlers, apart from spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, were able to pick up more than five wickets throughout the Test series against England, which India lost 2-1.

“To be very honest, the future of Indian bowling looks bleak,” Akram told espnstar.com. “Zaheer Khan looked average in the three Tests and then got dropped. Ishant Sharma was okay in patches but after five years at the international level you have to be more consistent.

“I am afraid he is going the Mohammad Sami way – a wasted talent. Umesh Yadav seems to be injury prone and the selectors don’t pick Varun Aaron.”

Akram noted that the national selectors had to give youngsters a chance to shine and added that this would be the only way for India to find new talent.

“It’s time that India look for new faces or tell the present bunch to shape up or ship out,” Akram said. “I will suggest a certain Shami Ahmed to get a look in. The Bengal pacer is just 22 years old but has tremendous potential. Having worked with him for Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011 season, I believe bowlers like him are the forward for Team India.”

Talking about India’s embarrassing loss to England, Akram stated that England’s support staff were much more prepared than India’s.

“The lack of planning in the Indian team was pretty visible even on the television screens and that reflected on the bowling front as well,” Akram added. “It seemed the bowlers were going through the motion rather than planning their wickets.

“England’s team director Andy Flower, bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed and batting coach Graham Gooch were all in sync unlike the Indian backroom staff.”