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HomeGo To PakistanShoaib Akhtar wants Pakistani cricketers to speak English. Ramiz Raja tells him—get...

Shoaib Akhtar wants Pakistani cricketers to speak English. Ramiz Raja tells him—get a degree

Shoaib Akhtar said that Pakistan team captain Babar Azam failed to become a brand because he cannot speak English.

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New Delhi: Shoaib Akhtar and Ramiz Raja are now fighting over whether poor communication skills and knowledge of English are coming in the way of the Pakistani cricket team’s international “stardom.” The Twitter tiff devolved after Raja called Akhtar “a delusional superstar.”

The two former cricketers have been at each other’s throats for some time now, and the latest spat comes after Akhtar took a dig at former player Kamran Akmal’s communication skills in a 42-minute-long interview with Pakistan’s Suno TV. He also said that the current team captain Babar Azam had failed to become the biggest brand in Pakistan because he cannot speak English. Retorting Akhtar on another television channel, Raja urged him to become human first.

The delusional superstar

Akhtar, the ex-pacer attacked the Pakistani cricket team saying that there was no character in the team.

You can see there’s no character in the team, nor do they know how to talk. How awkward it looks when they come to the presentation. How difficult is it to learn and speak English? You need to have some kind of grooming and training and know how to be a superstar,” he said in Urdu.

Akhtar had also responded to a question about Ramiz Raja saying that the kind of feedback he had received from others about Raja as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief had not been good. Expressing his intention to be the next PCB chief, Akhtar said that he believes he has a debt on the Pakistan cricket team and that he needs to repay it.

His comments did not go down well with many cricket fans or Ramiz Raja, the ex-PCB chief.

Speaking to  BOL TV, Raja said, “These people have many misconceptions. These (Shoaib Akhtar) are delusional superstars. He also recently had an issue with Kamran Akmal. He wants everyone to become a brand, but it is more important to become a human first. First, become a human and then a brand.”

Akhtar had commented on Kamran Akmal’s pronunciation of the word ‘screen’ saying, “sakreen nahi hota, screen hota hai (it’s not sakreen, it’s screen).”

“These ex-cricketers make such statements and then bring the brand of Pakistan cricket down. You will never see that happening in our neighbouring country,” Raja added.

Commenting on how this harms the image of Pakistani cricketers, he also said, “Gavaskar would never pull Dravid down or Tendulkar won’t do that to Ganguly. It only happens in Pakistan, where former players don’t let others do their job professionally and rather place judgements on others.”

When discussing Akhtar’s appointment as chairman of the PCB, Raja poked fun at him saying, “It is easy to give statements to the media and do nothing. He [Akhtar] needs to get a graduate degree first in order to become eligible for the chairmanship of PCB.”

Raja is also of the opinion that a Pakistani cricketer doesn’t need to speak in English.

“I emphasize on urdu commentary in Pakistan. Messi and Ronaldo don’t speak English in presentations. Hence, the bat of Babar Azam speaks for itself and he doesn’t need to speak in English,” he said.


Also read: Pakistanis angry with Javed Akhtar for 2 things—Mumbai attacks comment, Ali Zafar after-party


Not the first time

Recently, Afridi remarked on Shaheen Afridi’s T20 World Cup performance in 2023 blaming his inability to play through his injury, which led to commentator and former cricket player Alan Wilkins raising his concerns over Akhtar’s comments about the bowler. During the final match against England, Afridi was unable to finish his remaining overs due to a knee injury. If Akhtar was in Afridi’s place, he said in a viral video, he would have “become the greatest celebrity of Pakistan.”

“I would’ve come to bowl, fall, break my knees, but I would’ve got up, used an injection to numb my knees…. But I would not let the Cup slip from my hands,” he said.

Reacting to his comment, Wilkinson tweeted, “It’s an admirable thought but it is also a long time after the event. Shaheen Shah Afridi couldn’t have bowled on one leg even though he’s got the biggest heart in the team!”

Former Pakistani captain and father-in-law of Shaheen Afridi, Shahid Afridi also defended him, adding that Akhtar had taken so many injections during his playing days that he can’t walk anymore. “Everyone can’t be Shoaib Akhtar,” he said.

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