Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja slammed former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Popularly known as ‘Rawalpindi Express’, Akhtar recently commented on Babar Azam’s communication skills. However, Raja didn’t like the comments and said that Akhtar is a delusional superstar and needs to get a graduate degree first.
"Shoaib Akhtar is a delusional superstar. He also had an issue recently 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. Our former players degrade our cricket brand by giving delusional statements. You will never see that happening in our neighboring country. You will never see Sunil Gavaskar criticizing Rahul Dravid. It only happens in Pakistan, where former players don't let others do their job professionally," Raja said on Bol news.
“He needs to get a graduate degree first in order to become eligible for the chairmanship of PCB," Ramiz added.
Cricket is one job, and handling media is another: Shoaib Akhtar
The 47-year-old, in an interview, criticized Babar’s communication skills and said that he couldn’t speak English properly. Earlier he also took a dig at former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal and mocked him on his accent.
“Abhi aap dekh le, koi character nahi team mein. Naa koi baat karne ka tarika. (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. Kitna mushkil hai English seekhna aur baat krna? (How difficult is it to learn and speak English?). Cricket is one job, and handling media is another. If you can’t speak, I am sorry, but you won’t be able to express yourself on TV,” Shoaib Akhtar said.
“Kami is our match winner…he must be listening to this…he has played really well for Pakistan.” However, later, he took a dig at his his accent and said I heard him speak, he was saying ‘sakreen’…it’s screen and not sakreen)”