T20 win against England a "good omen", says Wasim Akram

Legendary bowler Wasim Akram feels that Pakistan’s thumping 9-wicket victory against England in the one-off Twenty-20 International at Old Trafford is a “Good Omen” following the disappointing 1-4 defeat in the ODI series.

A few days ago, their coach Mickey Arthur slammed the ODI squad for the poor show in the 50-over format and even warned them of missing a direct spot in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. But, Pakistan outplayed the hosts in the T20 match winning the match convincingly with incredible performances from Wahab Riaz with the ball, Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif with the bat.

Wasim who was present at the stadium in Manchester expressed that he was happy how Pakistan played with a proper plan and energy. As per the reports of Geo News, he said, “Pakistan outclassed England in all departments of the game, it was great to see them playing with proper plan and the energy they exhibited in the field was outstanding which helped them throughout the match,”

He added by saying, “England have a very good sign with Adil Rashid who has 10 FC centuries to his credit coming at number 11, and to restrict such team to small total as 135 was actually good work done by Pakistani bowlers.”

The Asian team performed rather impressively in the Test series which ended 2-2, which included two memorable victories. Yasir Shah with the ball and Younis Khan along with the skipper Misbah-ul-Haq were exceptional across the 4 matches.

The T20 match was significant as it was under the captaincy of Sarfraz Ahmed, and the former left-arm speedster lauded the way Ahmed executed the plans and guided Pakistan to a win. He said, “Sarfraz showed quality of a good captain, he was calm and remained in control. He never seemed to panic. He made bowling changes very well.”

“But I don’t think that Azhar should be removed and it is too early for Sarfraz to replace him, let Sarfraz and Azhar continue with what they’re doing. Judge them after the West Indies series,” he added.

Pakistan fielding a relatively inexperienced side compared to England and surprised everyone with the win.