Shane Warne names Wasim Akram as skipper of his greatest Pakistan XI

Shane Warne, the former Australian leg-spinner, got a chance to pick his greatest Pakistan XI. He conducted an Instagram Live session on Thursday, April 2 and zeroed in on the playing eleven. Due to the self-isolation time during the COVID-19 outbreak, the cricketers, both current and retired, have found ways to interact with the fans. The 50-year-old Warne wasn’t any different either.

In his team, Warne went for the right-left combo of Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail as the openers. Anwar is currently Pakistan’s third-highest run-scorer across formats. Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq form the middle order. In fact, Inzamam is the only Pakistan batsman with over 10 thousand runs at the highest level. In 375 matches, he managed 11,701 runs at an average of 39.53.

Younis Khan was more than an effective batter during his playing days and he was slotted at number five. Moin Khan used to be a busy cricketer and he always chirped away when he had the wicketkeeping gloves in hand. Khan has been picked as the wicketkeeper in the elite eleven.

Warne goes for Akram

Warne has gone for Wasim Akram as the skipper of the team. Akram led Pakistan in 25 Tests, winning 123 of them. In those matches, he picked up 107 wickets. In 109 ODIs for the Men in Green, Akram secured victories in 66 encounters. Having picked 916 wickets in 460 matches, Akram still remains to be Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker combining all the formats.

Warne also lauded the left-arm fast bowler for his stupendous ability of swinging the ball at sheer pace. “Akram was the best bowler that I saw, his skill with the ball was exceptional,” Warne was quoted as saying.

Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis were picked to partner Akram in the pace department. Akhtar was regarded as one of the fastest bowlers to have played the game. Waqar was a lethal prospect as well. Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq are the spin-bowling options. Saqlain is the second-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the spin department after Shahid Afridi.

Shane Warne’s XI

Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Moin Khan (wk), Wasim Akram (C), Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis