Pakistan have grown up in confidence against India: Akram

LAHORE: Former bowling great Wasim Akram has said Pakistan are now mentally strong enough to beat India at major tournaments.

Pakistan's win over India in the 2021 T20 World Cup has made them believe "they can compete against India day in and day out", he said during a media session organised by Star Sports. He said what was once a one-sided rivalry at World Cups has come alive.

"Pakistan team is on the rise for the past couple of years," Akram said . "They've been consistent, and I think the win against India, although that was a year ago during the World Cup, gave them a bit of confidence that they can compete against India day in and day out," he added.

Akram is optimistic of Pakistan's chances, but is aware that the team's strength -- the top order -- could become a weakness. Since the start of last year's T20 World Cup, Pakistan's top three have scored 67.53% of all the runs made by the team in T20Is. This has largely been down to Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman.

"The only thing I'm worried about is the middle order," Akram said. "There is no experience apart from Iftikhar Ahmed coming in at No. 4, and then you'll have probably Haider Ali, a young sensation who hasn't been consistent," he added.

"I think in general they're confident, but it depends on how they feel or what sort of mindset they're in when they arrive before the India-Pakistan game because that game can make or break the Asia Cup for either side," said the former Pakistan captain.

Akram agreed that comparisons between Babar and Virat Kohli were inevitable, given the kind of impact they have had on their respective teams. To him, Babar is not yet there, but has all the makings of being a modern-day great.

"It's only natural," Akram said of the comparison. "When we played, people compared Inzamam-ul-Haq with Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar. Before that, it was Javed Miandad versus Sunny [Sunil] Gavaskar. Gundappa Viswanath and Zaheer Abbas. So [the comparison] is only natural.

“Babar has been very consistent because he has the right technique. He enjoys his batting, is still very hungry, physically fit, still young and is the captain across formats.”