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Former Pakistan cricketer Saleem Malik has accused all-rounder Imad Wasim of deliberately wasting deliveries during Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2024 match against India in New York on Sunday (June 9). Malik’s claims came after Pakistan suffered a narrow six-run defeat despite dominating for much of the game.
Imad, who recently came out of retirement to join the World Cup squad, batted at No. 5 following Fakhar Zaman‘s dismissal. He scored 15 runs off 23 balls out of which 12 were dot balls. He could only scored one boundary during Pakistan’s chase of 120 runs.
Saleem Malik’s controversial remarks on Imad Wasim
Malik, speaking on Monday, accused Wasim of intentionally playing a sluggish knock to protect his batting average rather than taking risks to accelerate the scoring rate.
“He [Imad Wasim] made sure he doesn’t get out and keep bettering his batting average. If I’m a batter and I’m not getting runs, then I would try taking a risk, no matter if I get out. But he kept on eating up deliveries and then changed ends with singles,” Malik was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
“Imad Wasim didn’t get to play much cricket since the last PSL. Shadab Khan, who scored 40-odd against the USA in the last game, shouldn’t have been promoted up the order. Sorry, but I would like to question why he [Imad Wasim] was promoted up the order, given that he hadn’t got enough chances before [the World Cup]. The batter should at least have tried something instead of playing dot balls,” Malik concluded.
Also READ: Shahid Afridi blasts Pakistan for their humiliating defeat against India at T20 Word Cup 2024
Adam Gilchrist’s response
Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist reacted to Malik’s comments with sarcasm, noting the irony of Malik’s accusations given his own controversial past. Malik, a former Pakistan cricketer who played in 100 Test matches and was a member of the 1992 World Cup-winning team, received a lifetime ban in 2000 due to match-fixing allegations.
“A bunch of ex-Pakistan cricketers haven’t missed their teams, at all. I mean Saleem Malik, of all people… I’m just reading the comments and paraphrasing, and I haven’t heard him say, but had I heard him, it wouldn’t have been to my benefit because it was in Urdu. He accused Imad (Wasim) of chewing up deliveries on purpose to make it a bit more interesting. Now I don’t know if there are other accusations which come with that,” Gilchrist said with a smile of sarcasm..
— archive dilfs (@naswaaristan) June 11, 2024
Rashid Latif’s reaction
Rashid Latif, another former Pakistan cricketer, expressed his disgust over Malik’s comments. Sharing Gilchrist’s video on X (formerly Twitter), Latif criticized Malik for making such controversial statements, calling ex Pakistan cricketers an international embarrassment.
“Adam Gilchrist finding it ironic that a convicted fixer like Saleem Malik is accusing Imad Wasim of “underperforming deliberately” against India. Pakistani ex-cricketers are international embarrassment,” Latif wrote.
Adam Gilchrist finding it ironic that a convicted fixer like Saleem Malik is accusing Imad Wasim of “underperforming deliberately” against India.
Pakistani ex-cricketers are international embarrassment
— Rashid Latif | 🇵🇰 (@iRashidLatif68) June 12, 2024
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2024 journey
Pakistan’s journey in the ongoing T20 World Cup has been disappointing so far. They lost their first game in a surprising manner against co-hosts United States of America (USA) and followed it up with a narrow defeat to arch-rivals India in a low-scoring encounter. However, they finally tasted victory by defeating Canada. Pakistan will face Ireland in their last group stage match in Florida and will have to depend on the results of other teams in their group to qualify for the Super 8 stage.
