'I retired from cricket 17 years ago but people still take my name' - Wasim Akram hits back at Aamir Sohail's criticism

There have been many instances where former cricketers have lashed out at each other while digging up a past incident. Such spats have always hogged the limelight and there has been a trend of such fights in Pakistan cricket. Many former cricketers have bashed their teammates while revealing a certain incident about them.

And following the trend, it was Pakistan’s former Test opener Aamir Sohail who put some serious allegations on the legendary Wasim Akram. Sohail revealed that Akram’s ‘captaincy drama’ was the pivotal reason behind the team not winning a single ICC World Cup post the 1992 World Cup till 2003.

Akram has now reacted to Sohail’s criticism, suggesting he gets depressed hearing such negative comments about him. Sohail had stated that there’s was always chaos in the Pakistan Cricket Board before the World Cups post the successful 1992 edition, where the chatter was to remove whosoever was in charge and put Wasim in the charge.

“It’s very simple. Put the 1992 World Cup to one side and talk about the 1996 World Cup. In 1995, Ramiz Raja was captain. Saleem Malik was the captain before that, he was very successful and if he could have spent one more year as captain then Wasim would not have been leading the side,” Aamir had said.

‘I get depressed when I hear such negative things’: Wasim Akram

“If you look at what happened till 2003, there was this persistence before every World Cup to remove the captain and put Wasim Akram in that role,” Aamir had opined.

Reacting to Aamir’s criticism, Akram has opened up and has said that it’s rather sad that people are still using his name to bring attention to themselves despite the fact that he has retired from the sport for 17 years.

“I get depressed when I hear such negative things being said about me. I retired from cricket 17 years ago but people still take my name to further their own interests”, said Akram as quoted by PakPassion’s Saj Sadiq.

According to Aamir Sohail, the biggest setback of Akram’s career was that the legendary pacer didn’t steer the national side to any World Cup triumph after 1992. The opener has also appealed for the whole ‘drama’ involving Akram to be investigated.