Ex-Captain TROLLS Shoaib Akhtar On Live TV Days After Ex-Pacer's 'Don't Want To Talk About Pakistan Cricket' Jibe
Photo : AP
Pakistan cricket is currently on a downward spiral, after they were ousted from the preliminary round of the last three ICC tournaments- the ODI World Cup 2023, T20 World Cup 2024 and the Champions Trophy 2025. Their performances have now been heavily criticized by many of their former players, with one of the chief among them being legendary fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. In fact, after India's loss to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, Akhtar had said that he did not want to talk about Pakistan cricket, and was only doing so because he is being paid by a TV channel. Now, ex-Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has indirectly trolled Akhtar live on air.
In an interaction on Tapmad's show 'Game On Hai', both Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Akhtar were part of the expert panel alongside Shoaib Malik and Sana Mir. In front of Akhtar, Hafeez said that even though the superstars of the Pakistan Cricket team in the 1990s had great ability, they did not leave any legacy. They failed in three World Cups (1996, 1999, and 2003). They reached one final in 1999 but lost that very badly to Australia.
“I am a huge fan of those who played in the 1990s but when it comes to legacy, they left nothing for Pakistan. They didn't win an ICC event - they lost the World Cups of 1996, 1999 and 2003. We reached one final (in the 1999 World Cup) and lost that badly,” Hafeez said.
'2009 T20 World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy Wins Were Inspirational'
Mohammad Hafeez said that Pakistan's 2009 T20 World Cup win under the captaincy of Younus Khan was inspirational. He also lauded the 2017 Champions Trophy win as a great source of inspiration for Pakistan cricket after it had suffered a setback post the infamous 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore.
"As stars, as players, they were the mega superstars. But then they couldn't inspire us by winning an ICC event. Then came a difficult period that we had to go through and then in 2007 we lost the final (of the T20 World Cup). In 2009 we won under Younis Khan's captaincy and so there was an inspiration for the next generation. Then unfortunately a bad incident happened with Pakistan cricket and we have still not been able to recover from that. Then we won the 2017 Champions Trophy, that was a huge source of inspiration. People idolise Babar Azam today and that is because even if he didn't play a big hand in that event, he was there," Hafeez added.
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