Wasim Akram has held up India’s teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as an example while questioning Pakistan Super League’s failure to produce a similarly transformative batting talent despite the competition having completed a decade.
The Pakistan great, who has been closely associated with franchise cricket in both countries through coaching and mentoring roles, argued that the PSL has unearthed several quality bowlers but has struggled to provide Pakistan with a comparable stream of young batters. Akram made the remarks during a media interaction in Lahore.
Sooryavanshi has rapidly emerged as one of the most talked-about young cricketers in India after making an extraordinary impact in the IPL. Still only 15, the left-hander has already built a reputation around his fearless strokeplay and ability to take on established international bowlers, with his rise now being noticed well beyond Indian cricket.
“It has been 10 years since the PSL started, but has a single batter been produced by the PSL? Yes we have produced a few bowlers but tell me have we produced any noteworthy batting talent,” Akram said.
Akram points to Sooryavanshi’s rise
Akram then turned towards India’s teenage batting phenomenon while explaining the kind of breakthrough talent he believes Pakistan cricket needs to discover. “I think when we produce a batting talent like the 14-year old then we will see improvement coming through,” he said.
Akram referred to Sooryavanshi as a 14-year-old, although the Indian youngster is now 15. The larger point, however, was unmistakable: Akram believes Pakistan need to create a system capable of identifying and developing exceptional batting talent at a much younger age rather than relying solely on the PSL to produce finished players.
The former Pakistan captain also stressed that the problem extends beyond the country’s flagship T20 competition. According to Akram, reviving club cricket is essential if Pakistan are to improve both their talent pipeline and their performances in the longer formats. “Club cricket needs to be revived if we want improvement in red ball cricket. The PCB should spend 100 million rupees each in Karachi and Lahore, as talent comes from club cricket,” Akram said.
His comments arrive at another difficult moment for Pakistan cricket, with questions again being raised over the depth of the country’s batting resources and the development structure beneath the international team. For Akram, the comparison with Sooryavanshi was therefore less about one teenage batter and more about the system that allowed such a player to emerge. With the IPL continuing to introduce youngsters capable of immediately competing against elite international players, Akram believes Pakistan need to strengthen the pathway below the PSL if they are to discover their own next generation of batting stars.
