Former national team fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, while criticizing former captain Baber Azam, stated that Pakistani cricket fans have chosen the wrong players as their “heroes.”
Speaking on a private TV channel, Shoaib Akhtar told Rawalpindi Express that Baber Azam is compared with Virat Kohli, and his fans unthinkingly place him on a pedestal.
Shoaib Akhtar asked, “Now tell me, who is Virat Kohli’s hero? ‘Sachin Tendulkar’—who has scored 100 centuries in world cricket—is chasing his legacy. Who, then, is Baber Azam’s hero? ‘Tick tick'”—however, he did not name anyone.
Addressing cricket fans, the former cricketer said, “You have chosen the wrong heroes, you are thinking wrongly! They have been deceivers from the start; I wouldn’t even like to discuss the Pakistan cricket team. I am only doing this because I get a salary—this is a waste of time. I have been witnessing this deterioration since 2001; I have seen captains being changed, with their characters shifting three times a day.”
After a defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the first match, followed by a disastrous loss to India that eliminated Pakistan from the tournament, the Green Shirts are scheduled to play their final group match against Bangladesh on February 27 in Rawalpindi.
