'Ek ladla kam karlein': Kamran Akmal's advice for improving Pakistan bowling

Former Pakistan cricketers Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal have criticised the decision to take Salman Ali Agha out of the attack early during Pakistan’s match against India, saying he should have been allowed to continue bowling after a strong start.

Speaking on Har Lamha Purjosh, the former players noted that Salman picked up a wicket in his very first over and conceded just 10 runs across two overs in the powerplay. They argued that such figures warranted additional overs, particularly at a time when Pakistan were searching for control.

The panelists said smarter captaincy would have involved pairing Salman with Saim Ayub from the other end, especially as Shaheen Afridi was struggling to find his rhythm.

When asked whether weak on-field leadership leads to increased coaching interference, Basit Ali said he felt the captain lacked authority during the match. Kamran Akmal went a step further, claiming that head coach Mike Hesson appeared to be heavily influencing decision-making on the field.

Akmal also remarked that dropping even one “favoured” player and replacing him with a specialist bowler could immediately strengthen Pakistan’s bowling attack.

Turning to Pakistan’s batting order, the former players said Babar Azam is being underutilised by being pushed down to number four. They suggested that Khawaja Nafay should be given the number four slot instead, allowing Babar to bat in a more effective position.