Had more talent than Sehwag, but not brain: Shoaib Akhtar names Pakistan batsman, blames PCB for not using him

The pacer, who seldom minces words while putting forth his analysis, also blamed Pakistan Cricket Board for not getting the best out of the right-hander.

Former Pakistan fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes Imran Nazir had more talent than a Virender Sehwag, but the right-hander fizzled away after a bright start as he did not have the temperament and the brain to be successful at the international level.

“I don’t think Imran Nazir had the brain that Sehwag had. I don’t think Sehwag had the talent that Imran Nazir had. Nazir had more talent, there is no comparison with regards to talent. We tried to contain him a little,” Akhtar was quoted as saying on a TV show by Cricket Pakistan.

The pacer, who seldom minces words while putting forth his analysis, also blamed Pakistan Cricket Board for not using Nazir the right way and for not grooming him as he could have been a better player than Sehwag. “When he hit a brutal hundred against India in a match, I asked them to play Imran Nazir consistently but they didn’t listen,” he said.

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“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,” Akhtar went on to add.

Imran Nazir was a real dasher at the top of the innings and on his day, looked like a match-winner, but then fitness and indifferent form saw him feature in only just 8 Tests, 79 ODIs and 25 T20Is for Pakistan. In the three formats, he scored 427, 1895 and 500 runs respectively.