17-year-old Pakistan sensation Faisal Akram dismisses Babar Azam, dreams to get Virat Kohli's wicket

Left-arm wrist-spinner Faisal Akram is only a 17-year old but has already started turning heads with his exploits on the cricket field. The teenager looks destined to be the next big thing in Pakistan cricket. And he has further enhanced his reputation by dismissing none other than Pakistan skipper and one of the best batsmen in the world Babar Azam.

Pakistan’s team-management had recently invited the highly-rated teenager to their training camp ahead of the South African tour. Akram earned the call after his impressive performances in age-group cricket. The chinaman spinner played U16 cricket for only one year and ended PCB’s U16 Pentangular tournament during the 2018-19 season as the highest wicket-taker.

The performance paved the way for his inclusion in Pakistan’s U19 team and Akram has continued to impress them too. So far, he has picked 27 wickets in only 10 matches during the 2020/21 National U19 One Day Cup. But the biggest scalp of his career so far came last week when he dismissed his favourite batsman, Babar Azam, by trapping him lbw with his stock delivery that turned back sharply.

“He [Babar] is a world-class player, so I was under a little bit of pressure early on. But Waqar [Younis] bhai, who was standing beside me as an umpire, gave me confidence and said that I can do it. I was bowling well at that time as well, so Babar bhai got a good ball and was dismissed. After that my confidence just skyrocketed,” Akram told Cricket Pakistan.

Faisal Akram reveals gesture from Hardik Pandya

While Faisal Akram is not very popular among Indian fans, he looks set to become one in the coming days. The leg-spinner has revealed that he has his eyes set on picking the prized scalp of India captain, Virat Kohli. Not only that, but Akram has also revealed how India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has sponsored a bat for him

“My dream is to get the wicket of Virat Kohli and hopefully it will come true,” he said before adding: “I have had conversations with him [Hardik] on Instagram. He has sponsored a bat for me from there.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan are scheduled to tour South Africa for three ODIs and four T20Is next month. The tour will kickstart with the ODI leg on April 2 and will end on April 7. The T20Is, on the other hand, will start on April 10 and end on April 16.