'Would have killed Wasim Akram,' Shoaib Akhtar on match-fixing
What's the story
Former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar opened up on match-fixing with rising number of cases in the country. In a bizarre statement, the speedster reiterated that he would have "killed" bowling legend Wasim Akram, had he approached Shoaib for fixing the match. Shoaib also thanked the former Pakistan captain for supporting him throughout his career. Here is what Shoaib said.
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Wasim never asked me to fix matches: Shoaib Akhtar
"I will say it very clearly that if Wasim Akram had asked me to do match-fixing, I would have destroyed him or even kill him. But he never said such a thing to me," Cricket Pakistan quoted Akhtar as saying during a television show.
Support
Wasim backed Shoaib throughout his career
The 44-year-old asserted that Wasim backed him during his tenure. Shoaib described how the former owned the responsibility of rattling the top order straight up. "I played with him for seven to eight years and I can quote many instances where he gave me cover by taking the responsibility of picking up the top-order wickets while leaving the tail-enders for me," Shoaib concluded.
Wasim Akram
Shoaib hails Wasim for his incredible bowling display
A veteran of 460 internationals, Wasim Akram is the greatest ever fast bowler in world cricket. Seventeen years after his retirement, Akram is still the leading wicket-taker in ODIs among fast bowlers and the second-highest overall. "I was watching few matches of the 1990s and I was amazed to see how he got Pakistan through impossible situations with his brilliant bowling," Shoaib said.
Match-fixing
Pakistan players have been thrust into match-fixing
Pakistan cricket has often been stained due to a number of match-fixing cases. In 2010, Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were banned by the ICC after a tribunal found them guilty of spot-fixing during the Lord's Test. Recently, Umar Akmal's case was sent to the Disciplinary Panel after he failed to report a spot-fixing approach by a bookie during PSL.