Wasim Akram says he helped Irfan Pathan become a better bowler, says he now tweets against Pakistan

Wasim Akram recalled helping former India pacer Irfan Pathan early in his international career, when the young left-arm bowler sought advice from the Pakistan great. Akram said he met Pathan during India's 2004 tour of Australia and shared tips on bowling and mindset. Years later, Pathan remains active on social media and frequently posts about Pakistan.

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Irfan Pathan was compared with Wasim Akram

Pathan made a strong start to his international career and was soon compared with Akram because of his left-arm action, pace and ability to generate reverse swing.He made his Test debut against Australia in Sydney in 2003. Pathan dismissed Steve Waugh and later removed Adam Gilchrist with a reverse-swinging yorker.


He also took 16 wickets in 10 matches during the ODI tri-series in Australia. On India's subsequent tour of Pakistan, he claimed eight wickets in three matches along with a first-over hat trick in tests. With Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra already established in India's pace attack, Pathan's emergence gave the team another left-arm fast-bowling option. His early performances led to comparisons with Akram, who finished his ODI career with 502 wickets.

When Akram gave Pathan bowling tips

Akram said he first met Pathan in 2004 while he was working as a commentator during India's tour of Australia. According to Akram, Pathan was a fan who had grown up watching him play. The former Pakistan captain said he shared advice on several aspects of bowling, including wrist position, reading batters and deciding when to use variations.

“Irfan met me in 2004 on his first tour to Australia, I was commentating for ESPNStar. He was a big fan. Grew up watching us. I gave him a few tips here and there, but he did well early on in his career. His action was similar to mine from the very beginning. But when players ask you about something, what you tell them is mostly about the mindset. Action and all is fine, because at that stage, you have reached that level where you’re representing the country. Things like wrist position and how to suss out a batsman. When to use variations, when not to. So yeah, it was good fun. Irfan is a good boy; he still keeps meeting me. It’s a different thing that he keeps tweeting some or the other thing against Pakistan. But our fans are ready too. They don’t have the tendency to ignore either. They just have to reply,” Akram said on the 1 Mint podcast.

Pathan went on to become India's new-ball bowler for several years. However, injuries and the emergence of other Indian pacers affected his place in the team. He announced his retirement in 2020 and later continued his association with cricket through broadcasting and social media.

Pathan's record against Pakistan

Pathan had several notable performances against Pakistan during his playing career. He took 67 wickets in 36 international matches against them. His tally included 27 Test wickets, 34 ODI wickets and six T20I wickets.

One of his most memorable performances came in Karachi in 2006, when he took a hat-trick in the first over of the Test match. He dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf with successive deliveries. Pathan has also remained vocal about Pakistan cricket after his retirement. He has criticised Pakistan's cricket and players on different occasions and has used social media to react to India's victories over Pakistan.

His posts, including “Sunday kaisa raha, padosiyo?”, have drawn attention whenever India defeated Pakistan in major tournaments.

Wasim Akram on Pathan's Pakistan posts

While recalling his association with Pathan, Akram pointed out that the former India all-rounder continues to be active on X, formerly known as Twitter. Akram said Pathan regularly expresses his views and also posts about Pakistan. He added that Pakistan's fans respond to those posts rather than ignoring them.

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The comments came as Akram discussed the wider India-Pakistan rivalry and the role social media now plays in increasing attention around matches between the two teams.

‘India vs Pakistan is just a game’

Akram has played in several India-Pakistan matches and understands the attention surrounding the fixture. However, he said the rivalry should not be allowed to go beyond cricket. He believes social media has kept old incidents alive and added to the pressure around matches between the neighbours.

“People have too much time. Why can’t they understand? It’s only a frikkin game. At the end of the day, it’s just a match. Somebody has to win, somebody has to lose. And move on to the next one. But no, what happened many moons ago still lingers. Revenge and all is so 1970. It’s the classic ‘en empty mind is a devil’s workshop, thought process,” he said.