"Most of the players do not perform on the field, why? Because they`re mentally disturbed. They have a lot fears; take those fears away, that is the coach`s job, it is not to teach the game," Akhtar said.
He said that Pakistan cricket is currently going through its "darkest era".
In a scathing attack, in the aftermath of the side`s disappointing performance at the Champions Trophy, Akhtar blamed poor coaching for the side`s batting woes.
He said the Pakistan team needs a new coach, who can "unite the players in the dressing room".
"I think this is the darkest era of our cricket and I think if we need to take positives from the Champions Trophy we should learn from South Africa who survived isolation in the apartheid era and have emerged as a top team in the world," he said.
"Pakistan needs to learn from them because we are also in a similar position as there is no international team coming to Pakistan since 2009. But we are still in a better position than them in the sense that we are still playing our matches at neutral venues," he was quoted as saying by `Express Tribune`.
He said that the fact that Pakistan have been bowled out without playing the full 50 overs in seven of their last 12 ODIs is a discouraging sign.
Akhtar however defended captain Misbah-ul-Haq who has come under fire for his slow batting and captaincy.
He said Misbah can`t be blamed because no one is doing consistently well in the team`s batting line-up.
"He has no choice but to adopt a conservative and safety-first approach due to the poor performance of his colleagues."
The former speedster said Pakistan`s batting woes were a result of poor coaching at the grass-root levels.
"Pakistan has always been able to produce some of the world`s greatest players. The greatest, however, have not coached the under-19 and the under-16 teams where they can be matured as a batsman.
"By those ages you should have maturity as a batsman. The best age is 15, if you tell them how to play the game and rotate the strike, that`s where real coaching comes into play. I would say that there is a huge gap in that area."
Akhtar also suggested Tom Moody`s name as a possible solution to Pakistan`s ongoing problems.
"Pakistan should go for Tom Moody, he is the only man who can bring the match-winning attitude into the team. He is fantastic, rugged, brilliant manager, brilliant motivator and accommodator and he knows how to handle guys."
Akhtar also lashed out at national team`s wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.
"Kamran should be dropped for the match (against India) and the management must play an extra batsman who can also keep. I think Asad Shafiq should be given a chance," he told `Geo News`.
"Everyone knows the sort of keeping that Kamran Akmal does. I think I can also keep like this," he said.
"The unfortunate part is that for the last 10 years Pakistan has been looking for a good keeper who can also bat well," he said.
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