Sachin vulnerable due to injury: Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said the latest injury had made Sachin Tendulkar vulnerable to the bowlers who would fancy their chances against the champion batsman more than before.

Akram, who played 104 Tests and 356 one-day internationals, said the bowlers would be more confident bowling to Tendulkar as compared to a few years ago when the Little Master put a very heavy price on his wicket.

"Sachin's shoulder injury is more serious than it looks. The more time he will spend out of cricket, the more he would look vulnerable and likewise each time the bowlers would come to bowl at him, they would fancy their chances more than ever," Akram told PTI.

Since scoring his record-breaking 35th Test century, Tendulkar has scores of 28, 66, 29, 0, 33, 0, 29, 47, 45, 19, 15, 0, 21 and 57.

"When I used to bowl at Sachin during my heydays, I was always thinking. But in the last two series (against Pakistan and England), I have seen Sachin get out to very ordinary deliveries.

"There was no footwork, no approach and no timing. So something is terribly wrong somewhere and that needs to be fixed very quickly by none other than Sachin himself," said the former Pakistan captain who took 414 Tests and 502 one-day wickets."

"Sachin played very ordinary cricket against Pakistan and then against England. He lacks confidence and looks uncertain about his approach. At times he looked over aggressive and at times appeared that he was trying to just hang in the centre. These are the signs of a batsman who is struggling for form and confidence," Akram said.

"Obviously when you are carrying an injury, you don't feel very comfortable but you have to sort your problems before taking the field.

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"I understand that Sachin doesn't have the same pressure as he had five years back because today the Indian team has dependable players like Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh but Sachin has a big reputation to look after," said the left-arm legend.

Akram, who retired after the 2003 World Cup, however believed Sachin Tendulkar had at least one good year of cricket left in him.

"I know he can play till next year's World Cup. He is still the best but the bottomline is that he needs to perform consistently so that he can remain in that bracket of great players.

"It's a premature and emotional statement that Sachin can no more carry the hopes of the nation. He is a great player because ordinary players don't have the record Sachin has."