Mohammad Sami could have been at par with Wasim Akram: Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan fast bowler, reckons that speedster Mohammad Sami had all the ingredients to match the numbers of Wasim Akram. The latter is currently Pakistan’s all-time leading wicket-taker with over 900 wickets in international cricket. The Rawalpindi Express was of the opinion that Sami’s approach with the old leather helped him trap the batters most times.

Akhtar said that the now 39-year-old was deceptive enough and could easily have gotten over 400 wickets at the highest level. In his career, which spanned 15 years, the Karachi-born Sami notched 85, 121 and 21 scalps in 36 Tests, 87 ODIs and 13 T20Is respectively.

Sami could have easily picked up 400 wickets: Shoaib Akhtar

“Sami’s aggression with the old ball made him very deceptive and enabled him to hit the batsmen’s pads in front of the stumps 99 per cent of the time. Sami’s aggression with the old ball made him very deceptive and enabled him to hit the batsmen’s pads in front of the stumps 99 per cent of the time,” Akhtar was quoted as saying in Cricket Pakistan.

Akhtar said that Sami’s brisk action disrupted his rhythm and the latter used to leak runs. The veteran also quipped that bowling with a normal action made Sami a daunting prospect to deal with.

“Sami could have easily picked up 400 wickets and be par with the right-arm version of Wasim Akram. When Sami used to run in fast, it would disrupt his bowling action towards the end and he would concede a lot of runs,” Akhtar added..

“But when he used to bowl with a normal action and controlled aggression, his arm and seam would fall at the right place. When he bowled with controlled bowling action in New Zealand, he was unplayable,” he added.

Sami made his Test debut back in 2001 in a Test against the Black Caps at the Eden Park in Auckland. In the same year, the pacer forayed into ODI cricket as well. He last donned the national jersey in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India where Pakistan played Australia at the PCA Stadium.

In that game, he leaked 53 runs in four overs and from there on, he went out of contention for a place in the national side.