‘Has A Single Batter Been Produced?’: Wasim Akram Takes Brutal Swipe At PSL, Cites Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Wasim Akram has raised a bigger question about Pakistan cricket than the results of one Test series. For the former captain, the concern is not simply that Pakistan are losing, it is that the system is struggling to produce the kind of batting talent capable of changing those results.

Speaking in Lahore, Akram pointed specifically at the Pakistan Super League, which completed its 10th season this year. While acknowledging that the PSL has helped produce bowlers, he questioned its record in developing top-class batters.

Wasim Akram Uses Vaibhav Sooryavanshi As The Benchmark

“It has been 10 years since the PSL started, but has a single batter been produced by the PSL? Yes we have produced a few bowlers but tell me have we produced any noteworthy batting talent," Akram said.

He then brought up India's teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as an example of the sort of batting talent Pakistan needs to produce.

“I think when we produce a batting talent like the 14-year old (Sooryavanshi, 15) then we will see improvement coming through," he said.

The comparison comes after Sooryavanshi's rapid rise in Indian cricket. The left-hander has emerged as one of the most talked-about young batters in the country, making his senior-level breakthrough at an extraordinary age and becoming a symbol of India's increasingly deep talent pathway.

Interestingly, the PSL's latest season did produce several emerging batting prospects. The PCB's official Emerging Team of PSL 11 included players such as Sameer Minhas, Shamyl Hussain, Maaz Sadaqat, Farhan Yousuf and wicketkeeper-batter Saad Baig. Sameer was the emerging team's leading run-scorer with 349 runs at a strike rate of 155.80, while Hasan Nawaz scored 291 runs in 10 matches.

Akram's criticism, therefore, is less about the complete absence of young batters and more about the failure to turn promising players into established international-quality run-scorers.

Pakistan's Test Problems Go Beyond The PSL

Akram's concerns extend to the wider domestic system. He called for club cricket to be revived and suggested that the PCB invest Rs 100 million each in Karachi and Lahore because, in his view, that is where the talent pipeline begins. He also urged the board to give its revamped domestic structure three to four years rather than constantly changing it.

His comments came as Pakistan continued to struggle in the ongoing England series. Akram pointed to a technical issue he had noticed in the batting, saying Pakistan's players were standing rooted in the crease against bowlers such as Ollie Robinson rather than moving their front foot forward.

“In England in the ongoing series they didn’t move their front foot forward, playing bowlers like Ollie Robinson while standing rooted in the crease. You need to play with courage, but for that, talent is essential.”

Pakistan need a functioning grassroots system, continuity in domestic cricket and, above all, batters who can translate potential into performances at Test level.