World Cup-winning Pakistan opener Aamer Sohail has blamed former captain Wasim Akram for making sure the Men in Green did not win the World Cups in 1996, 1999 and 2003.
According to Sohail, having made Akram the captain of Pakistan for the 2003 World-Cup in the last minute and persisting with him for the leadership role harmed Pakistan cricket big time.
Further, Aamer named Ramiz Raja and Saleem Malik as better captains when compared to Akram.
“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,” Sohail was quoted as saying by The Dawn.
“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,” added Sohail.
Furthermore, Sohail, who played under Imran Khan during their successful 1992 World Cup campaign, sarcastically slammed his former captain for handing Akram with the presidential award.
“Look, the biggest contribution by Wasim Akram for Pakistan cricket was making sure Pakistan does not win a World Cup after 92. Imran Khan should be very grateful to him, and he is, by awarding him the presidential award. If he [Wasim] was sincere with Pakistan, we would have easily won 1996, 1999 and 2003 World Cups.”
Sohail, renowned for his bold remarks during his stint as a commentator post-retirement, demanded a probe on Akram regarding the matter.
The recent fixing case of Umar Akmal has opened a can of worms within the cricketing fraternity in Pakistan.
“All of this drama happened for a reason. This should be investigated. The culprit behind all this should be brought to the forefront,” concluded Sohail.
