India's never-ending affair with injuries continued as pacer Navdeep Saini was forced off the field due to groin pain.
The Rawalpindi Express rates Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as most complete batsmen for all formats.
Akhtar was talking about India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and felt that the latter is the smarest fast bowler after Asif.
For Akhtar, post Mohammed Asif and Muhammed Aamir, Bumrah is the "smartest operator" in terms of intelligence.
Akhtar recalls Asif made big batsmen like VVS Laxman, AB de Villiers cry
Akhtar was very impressed by India's ability to bounce back after being literally punched in the gut as not many teams can pull off something like this.
Babar was sitting at the first position in ICC T20I batsmen rankings before Dawid Malan overtook him recently.
Decimating the Indian batting unit, Josh Hazlewood scalped five wickets while Pat Cummins took four as the hosts gained a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.
The former fast bowler says Amir can do wonders if the 28-year-old pacer trains under him.
Pakistan are slated to play three T20Is and two Tests against the Kiwis, starting from December 18 with the first T20I encounter.
Though Ajinkya Rahane is the vice-captain on paper, Akhtar sees Rohit taking over leadership duties from Kohli following the first Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Akhtar lashed out at his critics and said they should look at Virat Kohli's stats before criticizing him for praising the Indian captain.
Shoaib Akhtar also criticised the Pakistan team and its players for their insecure and confusing nature.
Pakistan looked to be in control for much of the first two sessions of the first day before they lost control of the match due to an epic 359-run stand for the fifth wicket between Zak Crawley (267) and Jos Buttler (152).
Akhtar has claimed that Muralitharan used to ask him to bowl slow to him.
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has said that Indian PM Narendra Modi may request MS Dhoni to come out of international retirement for the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Hayden revealed how Akhtar tried to get under his skin by using profanity but the Pakistan speedster instead ended up to be the one who lost his concentration.
Babar scored a brilliant 69 in the first innings of the Manchester Test against England, but was dismissed cheaply in the second innings, contributing with just five as Pakistan lost the match by three wickets.
Akhtar also recalled a time when he had managed to get Dravid out LBW in Bengaluru but the umpire did not give the decision in Pakistan's favour.
Bumrah burst into Test cricket with sensational performances in the 2018 series in South Africa and was being called the best fast bowler in the world when India beat Australia Down Under in the 2018/19 series.
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