‘Brazil of cricket’: Wasim Akram names country with most raw talent in cricket

Wasim Akram made the observation while interviewing former Australia batsman Dean Jones in his Youtube channel.

Highlighting the huge resource of talent in Pakistan cricket, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said they are probably the Brazil of cricket when it comes to producing young cricketers. Akram made the comments while interviewing former Australia batsman Dean Jones in his Youtube channel.

File image of Wasim Akram (Getty Images)

“You’re (Pakistan) the talent factory. We in Australia always used to say that Pakistan have so much talent, it’s just the matter of how you harness it,” Jones said.

In reply, Akram said, “… Raw talent, It’s like Brazil of cricket.”

Brazil are renowned to be one of the strongest football sides of the world, having won the World Cup a record five times. Pakistan, on the other hand, are regarded as one of the powerhouses of cricket but are also often criticised for being inconsistent and unpredictable.

Explaining why Pakistan is so special in cricket, Jones, who represented Australia in 52 Tests and 164 ODIs, said they bring in different techniques and different attitude to international cricket.

Going down memory lane, Jones, who was the coach of Karachi Kings in Pakistan Super League (PSL), highlighted the importance of winning the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan cricket.

“Cricket is in the DNA, it’s been great for a long time but really started to turn big time in the late 80s when Imran took over, when you rip England apart in front of a 100 thousand people at MCG (in 1992) was amazing,” said Dean Jones.

Akram revealed that many Australians had bought tickets thinking that the home side would make it to the finals but it wasn’t to be and they all actually ended up supporting Pakistan as their opponents were England.