Following the national cricket team’s latest debacle in the ICC event, Pakistan cricket is under scrutiny. The hosts of the Champions Trophy 2025 are yet to win even a single match after three group-stage matches and may end up last in the table (based on Net Run Rate). Amid the mess of the Champions Trophy 2025, calls have been made to drop five or six players, sack the coach, and even remove the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram is actively speaking out on behalf of the Pakistan cricket team.
Did you hear that? Earlier losses Akram reprimanded Pakistan. He even criticized their busy diet during the match against India.
“I think it was the first or second drinks break, and there was a plate full of bananas for the players. Itne kele toh bandar bhi nahi khaate (Even monkeys don’t eat so many bananas). And it’s their food. Had it been our captain Imran Khan, he would have given me a beating over it,” Akram said on a post-match show.
Then he took a dig at an old quote by former Pakistan Cricket Board head Ramiz Raja, in which he said: “NASA’s scientists prepare diet for Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Mentioning that quote on a chat show that also featured Ajay Jadeja and Waqar Younis, Akram said, “Heard that NASA makes Cristiano Ronaldo’s diet. He (pointing at Waqar) knows who I am talking about.”
Akram lashed out at the Pakistan team, accusing them of playing ‘eldritch cricket’ in times where the cauldron of gameplay multiplied speed by several folds.
This must change: it’s time for radicals. Wasim Akram had said this once in the show “Dressing Room,” right after the defeat of his team at the hands of India in Dubai. “New cricketers, fearless cricketers, into the team. If five to six changes are necessary, let it happen.
“It just doesn’t matter if you keep losing for the next six months, but start the building process for World T20 2026 right now,” he added.
Statistics gave Akram some food for thought, while his bowling unit was held responsible for so many failures on international assignments.
“Hard to take. You have given them star statuses, and in their last five ODIs, Pakistan bowlers have got 24 wickets, going for an average of 60. That’s 60 runs an over chased.
“Our average is worse than Oman and the USA. In the 14 teams playing this form of cricket, we have the second worst bowling average,” he said.