Akhtar - 'Dravid will make a good captain'

Shoaib Akhtar will need to do more than this to defeat England © Getty Images

Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistan fast bowler, believes Rahul Dravid has a bright future as Indian captain. Akhtar played alongside Dravid in the first two ODIs in the World XI series against Australia.

"I think he'll make a good captain. It's a great change for Indian cricket," Akhtar said in an interview to India Times Cricket. "I think Ganguly needs some time off cricket. It's good for him, it's good for the team and I think it's a good decision in the end." On the highly-criticized Ganguly-Greg Chappell saga, Akhtar says he is uninterested in what was said between captain and coach and does not approve of such spats. "To be honest, I don't know what transpired between them."

Akhtar's career has lurched between success, intermittent mediocrity, injury and controversy, yet he remains a lethal wicket-taker and his current tally reads 144 scalps with 11 five-wicket hauls from 36 Tests. In one-day internationals he has taken 192 wickets in 125 games.

He was left out of the World XI side for the Super Test and puts this down to fitness. "I had a knee problem otherwise I would've played this game. I fell on my knee during an earlier game... it's bruised a bit." On the failure of the side in Australia, Akhtar pointed out that the period leading up to the Super Series was a bit slow for many of the players. "I think everyone had been resting for the past few months and just walked up to play. A team needs some time to build the match routine together."

While he enjoyed the experience of playing with stars from other teams, Akhtar firmly believes that the ICC should organize such series in a better way. "They [ICC] should reduce the cricket being played and have more time to do things like a training camp before the series. It would really help the players gel as a team."

Pakistan now host England for three Tests and five one-day internationals, and Akhtar looks to the series with confidence. "We'll go into the series with a few spinners and make lovely pitches for each one of them...hopefully! We'll try our best. We certainly do have the home advantage and we'll see how it goes."