Wasim Akram Predicts 3-0 Whitewash for Pakistan Against England
Wasim Akram did not bother with diplomacy. Long before Pakistan trudged to a 0-2 deficit in England, the former captain says he knew exactly how this story would end.
“I knew before the series we were going to lose 3-0 to England,” he told The Athletic, a blunt verdict that now feels less like pessimism and more like cold assessment. England have dominated the first two Tests; Pakistan have barely landed a punch. One match remains, starting Wednesday, and the scoreline Akram predicted is looming.
For a man who helped Pakistan win three consecutive Test series in England – in 1987, 1992 and 1996 – the current decline is not just painful. It is obvious.
“Our batting is struggling, our bowling is below average and our fielding is worse. It’s not rocket science,” he said.
This is not an outsider’s rant. Akram was central to Pakistan’s glory years in England, and he captained the side in the last of those famous series wins. He knows what a hardened, well-drilled touring team looks like. This, in his eyes, is not it.
Shockwaves from PCB’s drastic overhaul
If the on-field performances have been poor, the reaction off the field has been chaotic.
In the wake of the second Test defeat, the Pakistan Cricket Board swung the axe with a ferocity that stunned even a cricket world used to turmoil in Lahore. Seven players were sent back home from the touring squad. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his entire staff were sacked mid-series.
Akram, never shy of calling out mismanagement, admitted he felt for the players caught in the storm. But he did not spare them either.
In Pakistan, he reminded, there is a saying: “You can only clap with two hands.” Problems, in his view, run both ways – from the boardroom to the dressing room.
“I get asked all the time, ‘Can you do something to help Pakistan cricket?’ But the issues are a lot deeper,” he said. “These are the top players, there’s nothing else there. The systems aren’t there below that.”
He pointed straight at the domestic structure, a long-running fault line in Pakistan cricket. First-class cricket, he argued, has lurched from one model to another, never allowed to breathe, never given time to produce hardened professionals.
“The first-class structure domestically has been all over the place the last few years and there’s no consistency, no patience,” Akram said.
That instability, he believes, seeps into everything – even the stands.
“That dribbles down to the fans, too. They see the team lose and they want to rip it all up, too. We’ve done that so many times and now there is nothing really left.”
It is a damning picture: a national side underperforming, a domestic base in flux, and a governing body reaching for the reset button yet again. The 3-0 scoreline he forecast feels less like a shock and more like the logical consequence of years of drift.
Akram’s plea over Imran Khan: ‘There can be no compromise’
Away from the scorecards and selection calls, Akram’s voice changed when the subject turned to Imran Khan.
Teammate, captain, mentor, friend – Imran shaped Akram’s career and, in many ways, Pakistan cricket itself. Now, the former fast bowler watches from a distance, worried.
Akram revealed he has not spoken to Imran for three years. The silence, he suggested, is not from lack of care but from the political storm that has engulfed the former prime minister.
“It’s so unfortunate, politically, what’s happening with him. The court of law is the court of law. But as far as his health is concerned, there can be no compromise on that,” Akram said.
He acknowledged there is a movement in England and other places to improve Imran’s conditions. Inside Pakistan, though, he is far less certain.
“Here (in Pakistan)? I’m not so sure,” he admitted.
This was not the analyst speaking. It was the old protégé, stripped of spin, speaking from a place of concern.
“I’m speaking from the heart as someone who is worried about him as a person. Convicted or not convicted. Jail or no jail. We need to safeguard his health.”
Akram made it clear that, despite official assurances that Imran is “apparently” fine, he remains unconvinced.
“We don’t know what’s happening, the government are saying his health apparently is fine. But I’m worried. I miss him a lot.”
So Pakistan head into a final Test in England with a legend predicting a whitewash, a team gutted mid-tour, and a system he insists is broken beneath the surface. And somewhere behind that, another giant of their cricketing past sits in a cell, his health a growing concern for the men he once led.
