Asia Cup 2025: Wasim Akram shares bowling plan for Shaheen to counter Gill

ABU DHABI: Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram has offered tactical advice to Shaheen Shah Afridi ahead of Pakistan’s highly anticipated Super Four clash against India in the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Akram believes Afridi will need to be smarter with his lengths if he is to get the better of Indian vice-captain Shubman Gill.

The former captain’s remarks came after Omani pacer Shah Faisal dismissed Gill with a late-swinging full delivery during India’s Group A match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday.

Highlighting that Gill can be troubled early with the right variations, Akram urged Afridi to learn from that example and avoid becoming predictable during his opening burst.

“That’s what I want Shaheen Afridi to do early on, because the whole world now knows the plan against him. They say, ‘Okay, he’ll be bowling yorkers first up.’ So Afridi needs to have a Plan B. This is the length he should be bowling,” Akram said.

“I’m fine with one-off yorkers, but not two or three consecutive ones, because if he misses even one, it’s going for a boundary with only two fielders outside the circle. He ends up putting pressure on himself. I know he thinks he’s being attacking and going for wickets, but mixing it up with length balls is better. One yorker, yes, but not straightaway, and not every ball,” he added.

Pakistan had earlier suffered a seven-wicket defeat against India in their Group A match in Dubai last Sunday.

Batting first, Pakistan could only manage 127 for 9, with Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav picking up three wickets. India comfortably chased down the target in 15.5 overs, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav remaining unbeaten on 47.

The 59-year-old also criticised Pakistan’s batting unit for their struggles against Kuldeep Yadav.

“It’s just the way he (Kuldeep) bowls. They can’t read him. In the pre-show, I was talking to Sunny bhai (Sunil Gavaskar), who was a great batter. He said, ‘Unless and until you can read him from the hand, you won’t be able to understand that type of bowling.’ So that’s what happened. When they sweep against Kuldeep every second ball, it means you are not reading him,” Akram noted.

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2025: Salman Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem.

India squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh.