Former Pakistan captain, Wasim Akram, has lashed out at Pakistani cricket fans, stating that while cricket fans around the world regard him as a legend, he is referred to as a match-fixer in Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview with Wide World of Sports, Akram said that fans in major cricketing nations such as Australia, England, West Indies, and India regard him as one of the best bowlers in the world.
“But in Pakistan, this generation, this social media generation, they are the ones who come down, every comment they send, they say, ‘oh, he is a match fixer’, not knowing what it was,” said Akram, added.
Exclusive: Wasim Akram opens up on his career, Pakistan cricket and dealing with the 'match-fixing' tag. 🏏🇵🇰#9WWOS #Cricket pic.twitter.com/jDUo0zhnwB
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) November 20, 2022
Wasim is widely regarded as one of the best fast bowlers Pakistan has ever produced, as well as one of the best left-arm pacers the cricketing world has ever seen, but his career has been marred by allegations of fixing.
The Lahore-born cricketer retired nearly two decades ago, but the legendary pacer is still the second-highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket, trailing only the legendary Sri Lankan spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan.
The former captain has taken 502 wickets in 350 ODIs at an average of 23.08 and an economy rate of 3.93 while scoring 3,717 runs in 280 innings at an average of 16.52 and a strike rate of 88.33.
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Wasim Bhai, don’t be disheartened you are a living legend.we grew up watching the greatest 2Ws bowling together. This generation can never understand how our bowling attack was, they have no sense. Seriously matlab Wasim Waqar shoaib ufff the most lethal trio!
My brother used to say wasim akram jesi swing nahi krskta koi.
#Sultanofswing
This generation is the most inconsistent, messed up people, they can’t understand how much devoted and consistent you were with your performances even with the bat!