Pakistan’s legendary former fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar, during a local television show, claimed that the Men in Green’s explosive opener Imran Nazir was more talented than the Indian great Virender Sehwag.

The 44-year-old claimed that Sehwag had a better brain than Imran but in terms of talent there was no comparison between the two openers.

“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,” claimed Akhtar. “When he hit a brutal hundred against India in a side match, I asked them to play Imran Nazir consistently but they didn’t listen.”

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The Rawalpindi Express believed that Pakistan could have had a better player than Sehwag if we knew how to take care of our brands.

“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 said.

The former pacer revealed that legendary former batsman Javed Miandad was a guiding force for Imran Nazir during his career.

“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,” he concluded.