Rashid Latif: “Qasim Akram was groomed to become captain of Karachi Kings but he didn’t play a single game till mid of that season. If you want to make any player, send him to bat on top and let him bowl at the right time in franchise cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has questioned the logic behind the Karachi Kings using all-rounder Qasim Akram sporadically.
Qasim, who could be a first-choice all-rounder for the Pakistan team in the future, played for the Kings in the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The 20-year-old is brimming with talent, but was restricted to just three matches, in which he made 17 runs at an average of 5.66 and a strike-rate of 73.91.
Latif pointed out that Qasim is seen as a future captain for the Kings and thus asked why his game time has been so limited.
“Qasim Akram was groomed to become captain of Karachi Kings but he didn’t play a single game till mid of that season. If you want to make any player, send him to bat on top and let him bowl at the right time in franchise cricket. You will see that player getting selected easily. This is very unfortunate,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Qasim recently played for the Lahore Region Blues in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and scored 291 runs in four matches, which included two centuries and a fifty, at an average of 72.75.
He also took three wickets at an average of 64.33.
The talented youngster is not part of Pakistan’s squad for the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India.
The men in green started off with consecutive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before crashing and burning as they lost four games in a row to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
With their World Cup hopes in shambles, Pakistan will be eager to claim a much-needed win when they take on Bangladesh on October 31 in Kolkata.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali