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Akhtar told Shami that I want him to become king of pacer

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 10/9/2019 11:18:25 AM

New Delhi, Oct 8 Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has backed Mohammed Shami, who played a crucial role in India's emphatic win in the first Test against South Africa, to become the "king of reverse swing". Shami picked up a brilliant five-wicket haul during the second innings of South Africa in the Visakhapatnam Test which India won by 203 runs. Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Akhtar said that he once advised Shami to try and become a tearaway pacer while also using reverse swing, a rare quality in contemporary fast bowlers from the sub-continent. "After India's (50-over) World Cup disappointment, Shami called me up one day and said he was feeling sad that he could not do well for India. I told him not to lose heart but maintain fitness. I told him that the home series is coming and you will do well. "I told Shami that I want him to become a tearaway pacer, running through batting line-ups. He has seam and swing, besides that he has reverse swing which very few bowlers in the subcontinent have. I told him you can become king of reverse swing. "Now, you see what he has done, he has got wickets from a docile.