TORONTO, June 13: The famous two Ws of Pakistan — Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram — dispelled the notion that Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar were spent force. “Sachin is still the legend of the game,” said Waqar in an interview with Dawn.

“Tendulkar has served his country for nearly 15 years with tremendous success. He played more than 100 Test matches. He is a dedicated cricketer and I think he will stay in the game for many more years”.

Waqar also spoke very high of Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling capabilities and said the latter has a great future ahead.

“Shoaib, the ‘Rawalpindi Express’, will be playing for Worcestershire this season and I hope he will prove his worth as a genuine and effective pace bowler.”

Like Waqar, Wasim Akram in a separate interview also said that India’s Little Master Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan were still great players. “They are young. And they both have great desire to perform even better in days to come”.

Waqar and Wasim, both former captains of Pakistan, are currently in Canada in connection with Zindagi Trust’s fundraising drive in North America.

Wasim Akram and Waqar auctioned a cricket bat and a ball and also asked Canadian philanthropists to donate generously for this noble cause.

Wasim and Waqar praised Pakistan team’s recent performance in West Indies. When pointed out that two former Pakistan Test cricketers had recently opined that Inzamam’s side had a great chance of beating Caribbeans on their soil, Wasim said: “Let us take team’s performance positively. They swept One-day series and had a magnificent fightback to draw the Test series 1-1.”

In Waqar’s opinion Pakistan was favourite to win both the Tests it played against West Indies but the team missed key players, including Inzamam, Youhana and Shoaib Malik in the first Test at Barbados. And their absence made the difference. “I think Pakistan played extremely well and each player deserves compliments,” he said.

The 34-year-old Waqar who was often called as “the Burewala Express” said: “Pakistan team is definitely getting better and better day by day. It’s gaining maturity.”