Former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram made the headlines recently after he reportedly exposed the dark side of Saleem Malik adding that the latter treated him like a servant during the initial days of his cricketing career.
The Pakistani bowling great said he found it literally tough in the starting days of his career as he said he cleaned the then-Pakistani captain Saleem Malik’s clothes and boots.
Wasim Akram, in his autobiography, also mentioned that Saleem Malik took advantage of his seniority and treat the former like a servant during overseas tours. Although Wasim Akram had a remarkable bowling record, his career hadn’t been short of controversial stories.
Wasim Akram gives an explosive remark on missing the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal
Meanwhile, the former Pakistani paceman gave an explosive comment on missing the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal against India. Akram triggered several rumours with his absence from the crucial encounter.
The former Pakistan captain opted to pull out of the game just 15 minutes before the toss owing to an injury. The Pakistan bowling great created a stir in his absence so much that even after more than two and a half decades after the tournament, he still continues to face questions regarding the matter.
During an interaction with ESPNCricinfo, Akram added that Pakistan was clearly in a winning position until the 15th over of the innings and then the wickets kept falling like a pack of cards as the Men in Green ran through a batting collapse.
Meanwhile, Wasim Akram was framed as the scapegoat and the former Pakistan star added that when the team failed miserably the blame came on him and that he still can’t get over it in the first place.
Wasim Akram has represented the Pakistan cricket team in 104 Tests and 356 ODIs wherein he took 414 wickets in red-ball cricket and 502 wickets in One-Day Internationals.
“I got injured during the game against New Zealand. I got 34 runs. I went for a sweep shot, the fine leg was up, and I got my muscle pulled. That takes six weeks (to recover). The reason hamne press ko nahi bataaya, ki India ko confidence naa mile ki inka main player nahi khel raha (The reason we didn’t tell the press was because India would have gained confidence if they knew I wasn’t playing),” Akram had said.
