Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has dropped some bombshells in his autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir, which throws light on the left-arm pacer’s outstanding career. The book featured some of the iconic moments of Akram’s career and has also revealed some explosive details.
During the 1990s, Akram, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, faced fixing allegations when ex-pacer Ata-ur-Rehman claimed that Akram offered him 3-4 lakh rupees to fix games.
Now, through his autobiography, Akram has opened up on the fixing accusations, calling former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif a lobbyist. The ex-Pakistan captain highlighted how Latif pointed fingers at him only to gain attention.
“The lobbyists were at work. In July 2000, Rashid Latif gave an interview to The Sunday Telegraph in which he claimed to have been offered £15,000 to ensure Pakistan were bowled out for under 300 in the 1996 Lord’s Test. And who knows? Maybe he had. But had he told me, his captain, at the time? No. Had he reported it to his coach or manager? No. Had he told Qayyum? No. Amazingly, these stories only ever came out when he wanted attention,” read an excerpt from Akram’s book.
Akram then went on to call his former teammate and opener, Aamir Sohail as, a ‘Zombie figure’. Notably, Sohail had once claimed that Akram tried his best to make sure Pakistan did not win a World Cup after 1992.
“I was publicly reinstated as captain for the DMC Trophy in Toronto. The clamour for change was satisfied by a new coach, Wasim Raja, and new selectors: Wasim’s brother Ramiz, Naushad Ali and Abdur Raquib. They recalled, after his tireless lobbying, the zombie figure of Aamir Sohail,” the excerpt added.
Akram played 104 Tests and 356 ODIs for Pakistan, in which the left-armer picked 414 and 502 wickets, respectively.
