Wasim Akram to mentor the Sri Lankan team before the tour of South Africa

Legendary left-arm fast bowler Wasim Akram has been sought out by Sri Lanka Cricket to mentor the Sri Lankan team ahead of the team’s tour of South Africa.

The Pakistani fast bowler will conduct a full day coaching clinic in Colombo on Thursday, the 1st of December.

This initiative is supposed to be the first of a spree of programs that would involve foreign resource persons to improve the standards of both the players and the staffs.

“We have already put the technical and the scientific pillars into place. The invaluable insight our players can gain from the vast reservoir of knowledge and expertise of world cricket’s legends will provide them with the store of game-knowledge they will need,” said Thilanga Sumathipala, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket.

The news was made public as soon as the Sri Lankan team returned to Sri Lanka following their trip to Zimbabwe. “A cricketer and a gentleman of the calibre of Mr Akram is the ideal mentor to give wing to this latest initiative of SLC by which we intend to invite a series of such legends of the game to conduct workshops with our players, and to also mentor our coaches to perpetuate that learning,” Sumathipala further added.

The president of SLC also expressed his confidence about Sri Lanka’s chances at the 2019 World Cup stating that “with the amazing young talent that Sri Lanka is just brimming with at the moment, the World Cup in 2019 is fast becoming a reality.”

Sri Lanka is set to play a three-match test series against South Africa starting on the 26th of December, which will be followed by a three-match T20 series and a five-match ODI series.