Time to shed the jingoism

If press and media reports in Pakistan are to be believed, then you would think Wasim Akram had just committed an act of treason. By unofficially helping out Indian bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, and lately, the promising Irfan Pathan, Akram is being tainted as one who, in one Jedi's words, has moved to the dark side.

As in all matters concerning India and Pakistan, the realm of the irrational looms large. If truth is the first casualty of war, then logic and objectivity are the first victims of a perma-warlike situation. At its basest level, shorn of jingoistic nationalism and confused notions of patriotism, what has Akram done? He has simply offered advice to those who were seeking it from him. Whether they are Indian, Australian or Nepalese, doesn't matter. Pathan, Zaheer and Nehra are all left-arm bowlers and Akram is quite simply the greatest of his species to have graced a cricket field. If they hadn't asked him for advice while he was around, then questions should have been asked.

It is only natural that, in any sphere of life, sports or otherwise, one looks up to role models - people who have succeeded and achieved throughout their career in their chosen field. Their track record, and not their nationality, should be the deciding factor. Andrew Flintoff, for one, reaped the benefits of Akram's presence when he was at Lancashire, yet no one raised any objections when he propelled England to an improbable ODI victory at Karachi in 2000. Nathan Bracken too asked for tips, yet that went almost unnoticed. And why shouldn't a young Pakistani batsman, such as Taufeeq Umar or Yasir Hameed, go to a Sachin Tendulkar in the forthcoming series for advice? What we should be doing is applauding Akram's advice, for it was his two cents that enabled young Pathan to find some prodigious reverse-swing to get rid of Adam Gilchrist in the Sydney Test.

Lest we forget, Akram is not the property of the Pakistani people or of the PCB. He is a free agent, willing and able to do what he wants. If he is offering to help some young bowlers who aren't Pakistani, so be it. It should, in fact, be a source of some embarrassment, if not shame, to the PCB that they have failed to utilise in any tangible sense, Akram's uniquely extraordinary gifts. And as Akram himself alluded to in an interview for The Independent in 2000, it isn't as if today's Pakistani bowlers, including Shoaib Akhtar, have sought him out for help.

Bowlers such as Akram and Waqar, as well as being blessed with the presence of Imran, were willing to learn and improve their craft. They too looked to other bowlers of repute to enhance their own skills, whether it was Marshall, Hadlee or even Kapil. The young Indian pace triumvirate are the same, and they should be commended for seeking out advice from Akram. And what, even now, stops an Akhtar, Mohammad Sami or Shabbir Ahmed from calling up Akram for help? If Sami has trouble with his no-balls, or Shabbir with his action, surely there is someone at the PCB who can get them in touch with Akram? That they are not doing so speaks poorly of Pakistan and the PCB and not Akram.

It is the perversely ironic fate of Akram that his achievements, actions and intentions will always be greeted with more cynicism at home than they ever will abroad. Akram's status and popularity around the world, as his recent jaunts to India, Australia and his time in England have proved, is considerably higher than in his homeland. Perhaps it is because we know him better, perhaps not. Whatever the reasons, they should not detract from, one, his ability to do what he likes with his life, and two, his reputation as a cricketer.