Wasim Akram lashes PCB for removing Imran Khan

Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday to apologise for excluding legendary all-rounder Imran Khan from its celebratory video on the occasion of country’s Independence Day.

The PCB had shared a video on August 14, highlighting Pakistan’s achievements in international cricket, which didn’t not include arguably its greatest cricketer, Khan.

However, as soon as the footage was posted on the board's official social media pages, the PCB earned the anger of Pakistan cricket fans.

In a video remarks, Akram added his perspective and expressed his shock at the PCB's brief history of Pakistan cricket footage that omitted the legendary Imran Khan.

He added that the PCB ought to remove the video.

Over the course of his long cricket career, Khan played 175 One-Day Internationals and 88 Tests for Pakistan.

As one of four famous all-rounders who wowed everyone in Test cricket in the 1980s—Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, and Kapil Dev being the others—Khan's averages of 37 with the bat and 22 with the ball maintained him at the top of the list.

Khan played in 51 Test matches throughout the course of his final ten years of international cricket, averaging a staggering 50 with the bat and 19 with the ball.

The biggest event of Khan's career came when the Men in Gren won the 1992 World Cup trophy under his inspired leadership. He also guided Pakistan to their first series victory in England in 1987.

The cricketer-turned-politician is currently behind bars on corruption charges after a court convicted him in the Toshakhana case, sentencing him to three years in prison and later, the election commission disqualified him for five years from running for office.

Meanwhile, pacer Wahab Riaz also lauded Khan when asked for his opinion on PCB's video.   

"We can never forget the 1992 World Cup and the captain of the Pakistan team. His status as a cricketer will always remain the same and the younger generations will continue to idolise him like we did," said the left-armer. 

After long flights and hours of transit before reaching Sri Lanka, I got the shock of my life when I watched PCB’s short clip on the history of Pakistan cricket minus the great Imran Khan… political differences apart but Imran Khan is an icon of world cricket and developed…

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) August 16, 2023