Wasim Akram: “I want Pakistan to play bravely, with a big heart and play on front foot”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Legendary Pakistan left-arm seamer Wasim Akram has called on the national team to “play bravely” and “with a big heart” in their World Cup opener against the West Indies on Friday.

Pakistan have struggled in ODIs this year as they were beaten 3-2 by South Africa and whitewashed 5-0 by Australia.

In their most recent ODI series against England, the men in green were crushed 4-0.

Akram noted that while the West Indies are a “very dangerous side”, Pakistan are capable of kicking off their World Cup campaign with a win.

“West Indies is a very dangerous side. I want Pakistan to play bravely, with a big heart and play on front foot. See how Root played [yesterday] after [England lost their] first wicket early. You don’t need to slog but you must play proper cricketing shots. We need someone to bat like him,” Akram told Geo.tv.

“The 12 announced for the match against West Indies looks good. Pakistan is rightly going with five bowlers as we were strolling with bowling options recently. The ground looks very high scoring with a par score of 370 and Pakistan must score this [many] runs.”

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