The selectors may have earned wrath from the entire cricket fraternity for drafting in Rudra Pratap Singh in place of injured Zaheer Khan, but the the new entrant had support from the Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram
The selectors may have earned wrath from the entire cricket fraternity for drafting in Rudra Pratap Singh in place of injured Zaheer Khan, but the the new entrant had support from the Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram. The former Pakistan captain was in favour of inducting Singh in the final XI in place of Sreesanth in the third Test at Edgbaston.
Wasim Akram
"I am happy to see RP Singh returning to the Indian team. He is an apt replacement for Zaheer and is one bowler who can really trouble the English batsmen. His upright, seam-up action helps the ball slant easily and India will be tempted to play him ahead of Sreesanth," Akram wrote in his column for www.espnstar.com.
"Ishant and Praveen will complete the pace line-up but this duo must not lose heart when a partnership is building. Having said this, I would have loved to see Laxmipathy Balaji in England. He swings the ball well and can work up a decent pace too."
The left-arm quick though criticised Indian team's body language and termed it most listless in the recent times. "I have never seen such a listless Indian side in recent times. The team has been just going through the motion and at Trent Bridge, the Indians gave the impression that they had thrown in the towel on Day 4 itself.
Is this the sign of a team that s No. 1 in the Test rankings?" he questioned.
"Drooping shoulders, stingless bowling and schoolboy-like batting have made India look like a team that has no pride. This is not the India that we wanted to see in England," the legendary pacer felt.
Akram took a dig at the team saying there was no good performance apart from VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and to extent Sachin Tendulkar. "Tours like England actually tell you the class and depth of a team. Except for Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and to a small extent Sachin Tendulkar, there is not much to write home about the current squad. I would reckon English conditions are the toughest in the world as in England the ball keeps seaming around," he added.
The former fast bowler also said that Yuvraj Singhs and Suresh Rainas won't be called complete batsmen unless they handled seaming conditions with flair.
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