ISLAMABAD: Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has said that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could form its proper cricket team as the country regularly hosts cricket tournaments, adding he wishes to see the cricket game “evolve” in the Gulf nation.
Wasim made his first-ever trip to the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh in February this year, where he met with Prince Saud bin Mishal, chairman of the Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation, to discuss future of the sport in the Kingdom.
In an interview with Arab News, Wasim spoke about the emerging cricket players in Saudi Arabia, saying though he didn’t get a chance to witness Saudi cricket players, he would like to revisit Saudi Arabia.
“I would love to go there and see the cricket talent, and I’m sure, they can form a cricket team, where they can actually beat the associate countries,” the ex-pacer said and added, “But for that, they have got to have domestic regular leagues, and that too, like I said earlier, on turf pitches. That’ is very significant for Saudi cricket to evolve.”
Cricket relations between two nations
Wasim’s visit followed the recent strengthening of cricket relations between the two nations. In January, Najam Sethi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said his country was prepared to share its cricket expertise with Saudi Arabia where cricket is increasingly growing in popularity.
The same month, Javed Afridi, owner of Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Peshawar Zalmi, announced his PSL team would play exhibition cricket matches in Saudi Arabia, according to Arab News. “I met with the chairman of the Saudi Cricket Federation, who is a very keen and fan of cricket,” Wasim added.
“And of course, there are a lot of expats: Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, Australians, Sri Lankans. They all are there, and they love one sport, and that’s cricket. Saudi Arabia has about 16 districts, and they do put up regular tournaments, [but] I think what they need is a cricket ground and turfs, that’s where Saudi Arabia cricket will evolve.”
