Lahore [Pakistan], September 12: Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram has raised serious questions over the Pakistan Super League’s ability to produce elite batting talent, using India’s teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as an example of the kind of player Pakistan’s domestic system needs to develop.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, Akram acknowledged that the PSL has produced several good bowlers during its decade-long existence, but questioned why the tournament has not produced a similarly influential young batter who has gone on to become a major international prospect. His comments come at a difficult time for Pakistan cricket, particularly after the team’s struggles in Test cricket.
Akram’s central question was straightforward but pointed: after 10 years of the PSL, where is the batter who has emerged from the league as a genuine top-level talent? He contrasted that situation with India’s emergence of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whose extraordinary rise at a very young age has attracted attention across the cricketing world.
“It has been 10 years since the PSL started, but has a single batter been produced by the PSL?” Akram said, while acknowledging that Pakistan has produced a number of quality bowlers through its cricketing system.
The former Pakistan captain then referred to Sooryavanshi as the kind of batting prospect Pakistan needs. He suggested that producing a youngster of that calibre would be an indication that the country’s cricket development system is beginning to move in the right direction.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Becomes the Benchmark
Sooryavanshi has become one of the most talked-about young cricketers in India because of the speed of his rise and his aggressive batting style. His emergence has also highlighted the depth of India’s talent-development structure, where young players can move from age-group cricket into high-level domestic and franchise competitions.
For Akram, the comparison is less about India versus Pakistan and more about the development of batting talent. He believes Pakistan needs to create an environment in which young batters are identified early, given enough exposure and allowed to develop without constant changes in selection policies or coaching structures.
The comments are particularly significant because Akram is not questioning the existence of talent in Pakistan. Instead, he is questioning whether the country’s current system is doing enough to identify and polish that talent into international-quality batters.
PSL Has Produced Bowlers, But Batting Remains a Concern
Since its launch, the Pakistan Super League has become an important part of Pakistan’s domestic cricket ecosystem. The tournament has given opportunities to several young players and has helped expose them to international cricketers and high-pressure T20 cricket.
Akram believes the league has had a clearer impact on Pakistan’s bowling resources than its batting pipeline. That imbalance has become increasingly visible as Pakistan continues to struggle to find a stable group of technically strong batters capable of succeeding consistently at Test level.
Pakistan’s white-ball performances have generally remained more competitive, but Akram has described the situation in Test cricket as particularly concerning. The recent struggles in England have again brought questions about the team’s batting technique, consistency and preparation into focus.
England Series Has Exposed Pakistan’s Batting Problems
Akram’s comments come amid Pakistan’s disappointing Test campaign in England. The former fast bowler has been particularly critical of the technical shortcomings he has seen from Pakistan’s batters.
He has argued that the problems extend beyond individual players and point towards deeper issues within the country’s cricketing structure. In another recent assessment, Akram said Pakistan’s problems involve batting, bowling, fielding and instability within the domestic system, while also criticising inconsistent decision-making by the cricket board.
The concern is that changing players or coaches repeatedly may not solve the underlying problem. A strong national team requires a dependable pipeline in which young cricketers receive sustained opportunities and are developed over several years.
Akram Calls for Patience With Domestic Cricket
Akram has also argued that Pakistan’s domestic structure needs time to produce results. Rather than repeatedly changing systems whenever the national team struggles, he believes the country’s domestic programme should be allowed to operate consistently for several years.
He has suggested that whoever takes responsibility as coach will ultimately be working with the same pool of players unless the development system itself improves. That means the solution cannot simply be another coaching appointment or a fresh round of selections.
This is where his reference to Sooryavanshi becomes important. India has increasingly benefited from a broad ecosystem involving school cricket, age-group competitions, domestic tournaments and franchise cricket. Pakistan has similar structures, but Akram’s criticism suggests that the country is not converting that infrastructure into enough high-quality batting talent.
The PSL’s Real Test Is Talent Development
Franchise leagues are often judged by their entertainment value, television audiences and commercial success. But for countries such as Pakistan, their long-term importance also lies in whether they can strengthen the national team.
The PSL has certainly helped provide a platform for emerging cricketers. The question Akram has raised is whether that platform is producing enough elite batters who can eventually succeed in international cricket, particularly in the longer format.
A T20 league can expose young players to pressure, overseas stars and high-level competition, but it cannot replace the technical foundation provided by strong domestic cricket. Young batters still need opportunities to play longer innings, face quality pace and spin over extended periods and learn how to adapt to different conditions.
That development cannot happen overnight.
Pakistan’s Search for Its Next Batting Star Continues
Akram’s comments have therefore touched on a much larger issue than the PSL alone. Pakistan has historically produced some of the world’s greatest fast bowlers and has also had exceptional batters, but the current concern is the consistency with which the system produces the next generation.
By pointing towards Sooryavanshi, Akram has effectively challenged Pakistan cricket to ask why a comparable batting prodigy has not emerged through its own system.
The answer is unlikely to be found in one tournament or one player. It will require consistency in domestic cricket, better coaching, improved technical development and patience with young players.
For now, Sooryavanshi’s rise has given Akram a useful benchmark — and his criticism has put the PSL’s decade-long record of producing batting talent firmly under the spotlight.
