KARACHI, Dec 7 (AFP) - Pakistan's ace pace bowler Wasim Akram said Thursday his career was not over and dismissed calls for him to be dropped due to poor form.
"My career is not over. I accept cricketing criticism but the calls to oust me from the team are unwarranted and make me disappointed," Akram told AFP.
Akram was ruled out of the third and final Test against England which got underway in Karachi Thursday after he suffered a back spasm.
"It's tragic that I fell unfit otherwise I was determined to prove my ability on the field and silence my critics," Akram, 34, said.
"Let me assure everyone that I still have the oomph and the will to serve my country. Once I feel I am not up to the mark I will quit but not now when I feel I have enough cricket left in me."
Akram boasts 400 wickets in Tests and one-day internationals, but fared poorly in the first two Tests against England, taking only two wickets.
The teams played two draws on flat, dead tracks, with England's pacemen struggling as well.
"I know two wickets are less than what is expected of me but the wickets in the series were made for the spinners and not for fast bowlers."
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia had warned Akram ahead of the final Test to either shape up or ship out.
"Do they think I am not concerned that I'm not helping my team win on home grounds? But it's not in my hands. Whenever I go in the field I give 100 percent -- success and failure are in the Almighty's hands," Akram said.
"Some former players said two years back that I was finished but I performed in the West Indies and Sri Lanka very recently."
Akram took eleven wickets in the St. John's Test in Antigua in May and nearly won Pakistan their first ever series against the West Indies.
He then sparkled with bat and ball to help Pakistan win an away series against Sri Lanka in July.
"I don't know why people forget this so early and make unnecessary comments," Akram said.
"I have no enemies and have served the country well and hopefully I will get a fair deal."
Akram was fined 300,000 rupees (5,000 dollars) following Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's match-fixing report in May.
"I have come out of every difficult situation and I am a fighter. Come what may I will play and keep performing," he said.
"There is a lot of time left before Pakistan's next series and if I keep my fitness and get selected I will play in New Zealand and England."
Pakistan play New Zealand in a three-match series from February before going to England for a two-test mini-series beginning in May.
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan lashed out Akram's detractors.
"The campaign for Akram's ouster is ridiculous and frustrating for a player who has enough cricket left in him and who has been a match winner for Pakistan very recently," said Khan, Akram's early mentor.
"How can you assess a bowler's form on dead pitches like we had in the series against England? They have blunted Akram with flat tracks.
"Former Australian great fast bowler Dennis Lillee got only three wickets in Pakistan in the 80s -- did Australia throw him out? Never." |
