I was super impressed: Akhtar recalls bowling to Warner alongside Amir

The 44-year-old stated that Amir was making Warner dance while Akhtar was having a hard time containing the prolific opener despite his experience

PHOTO: AFP

Pakistan’s legendary former pacer Shoaib Akhtar, in a YouTube video on Thursday, revealed that he was super impressed by a young Mohammad Amir, while recalling an encounter with Australia’s batsman David Warner, where Akhtar shared the ball with Amir.

The 44-year-old stated that Amir was making troubling Warner consistently, while Akhtar was having a hard time containing the prolific opener despite his experience.

“Mohammad Amir an exceptional talent, very clever. He is a genuine fast-bowler. I think he was a very intimidating bowler and a rising star. He had all of these qualities in the start. The sad part was that we saw all of that talent being wasted. But when I saw him I thought that I had seen such a clever fast-bowler after a very long time,” Akhtar said while praising Amir.

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“Where batsman David Warner hit me for three or four boundaries, even though it was at the end of my career, I knew what to bowl but couldn’t bowl the way Amir was reading the situation. On the same pitch, he [Amir] was making Warner dance in Birmingham. I was thinking that I have spent 13 to 14 years in international cricket and I can’t contain him, and Amir who just burst into international cricket about a year ago is playing like it’s nothing. I was super impressed with his abilities,” he added.

Akhtar claimed that the fast-bowling duo of pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir was unplayable because of their understanding of the art of fast-bowling.

“You can call them [Amir and Asif] the spearhead, but they weren’t big strike fast-bowlers who could create an impact. However, they provided the team with consistent wickets in quick successions. They weren’t tear away fast-bowlers however they were successful and polished. I think managing them was not easy. That made them unplayable. Their length was very dangerous, and the way they used the length to trap the batsman was great,” he concluded.