Wasim Akram himself has spent his entire life at clubs: Shoaib Akhtar

Back in the day, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar’s was one of the best fast-bowling pairs in cricket history but perhaps they didn’t share the bond a lot of cricket fans would imagine them to. 

Now, Akhtar, in an interview with a local TV channel, has taken a dig at his then captain, Akram, and aired his reservations about the latter’s remarks about his life choices in interviews.  

The former pacer, who has often “caught at a club” by Akram, has shared how he picked up the habit from his “seniors,” case in point, Akram himself. He said “I have heard Wasim Akram complain in interviews about how he caught me at a club. But can someone ask him if he ever – in 14 years – grabbed me by the ear and took me to the gym?”

The former cricketer and current commentator went on, “He [Wasim Akram] himself has spent his entire life at clubs. I used to get injections for my knee problem so couldn’t do that often. But if I went to the club once in a blue moon, what's the big deal?" 

Akhtar, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of international cricket, added that whatever he knows, he has “learnt from my seniors, and all my seniors would be clubbing, so I have learnt that from them too. If my seniors were disciplined, so would I.”

In March 2020, when Akram tweeted about his experience of being the captain for Pakistan’s cricket team, he had shared a photo with Akhtar, in which he seemed to be having a serious conversation with him during a match. Commenting on the same, the Rawalpindi Express cheekily asked Akram as to what he was saying to him in the photo. To this, Akram took a jibe at Akhtar saying he might have been asking him if there was any chance he could bowl straight.

Akhtar then proceeded to remind the left-arm bowler with a laughing emoticon, “Jaanay dain Wasim bhai (let it go, Wasim bhai). I was probably the most accurate bowler you captained.”