
Former India opener Virender Sehwag is regarded as one of the finest to have played cricket across formats. The swashbuckling right-handed batsman changed the way cricket and batting was perceived by players and fans during his playing days with his explosive style of batting. However, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar is of the view that one Pakistani opener was way more talented than Sehwag but couldn’t fulfil his potential while blaming Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his downfall.
Akhtar has named Imran Nazir as more talented than Nazir but added that the Pakistani batsman didn’t have the brain to capitalize on his extreme talent. Akhtar further revealed that he had asked the Pakistan team management to play Nazir regularly following but they didn’t listen to his advice.
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“I don’t think Imran Nazir had the brain that Sehwag had. I don’t think Sehwag had the talent that Imran Nazir had. There is no comparison with regards to talent. We tried to contain him a little. When he hit a brutal hundred against India in a match, I asked them to play Imran Nazir consistently but they didn’t listen," Akhtar was quoted as saying on a TV show by Cricket Pakistan.
“It is unfortunate that we do not know how to take care of our brands. We could have had a player better than Virender Sehwag in Imran Nazir. He had all the shots while also being a good fielder. We could have utilised him brilliantly but we just couldn’t,” he added.
Nazir, who managed to play 8 Tests, 79 ODIs and 25 T20Is for Pakistan, amassing 427, 1895 and 500 runs in the three formats respectively, was backed by Javed Miandad a lot and Akhtar revealed how the former Pakistan skipper helped Nazir during his initial days.
“Whenever Imran Nazir played well, it was because of Javed Miandad. He would be in the dressing room and trying to get him to play. Whenever he played a bad shot Javed bhai would send him a message in order to keep him focused,” Akhtar said.