New Delhi: Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar will now become a regular on your idiot box. Akhtar will now be seen judging a comedy show along with Harbhajan Singh. The show titled “Indian Mazaak League” will be broadcasted on Life Ok and will portray Akhtar in a completely different avtar from the menacing, fumingly fast bowler one remembers him from the cricket field.
Akhtar told Mumbai Mirror: "I've had my share of fun in the dressing room with a-joke-a-minute contemporaries like Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik and seniors like Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq. My namesake takes mimicry to another level. There was so much of banter and harmless leg-pulling that my jaws would ache. Among the Indian cricketers Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh are a riot, as also Virender Sehwag." He also added: “Even my family enjoys a laugh but being the younger sibling I’m more inhibited.”
He said that cricketers routinely indulge in light-hearted humour in the dressing room as professional sport can be stressful and demanding at most times.
During an interview to a television show, “Aap Ki Adalat”, Harbhajan revealed: “Shoaib once threatened me he would come to my room and beat me. I told him come, let's see who beats whom. I was really scared. He is a great hulk. He once bashed me and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) inside a room. Since he was heavy, it was difficult to catch him."
Akhtar responded by saying, "They got along well with me and used to come to my room and have dinner together. Yuvi wanted to go for sightseeing in Islamabad. We have been good friends so how can I beat them."
Akhtar is not new to Indian television. He had appeared in the Kapil Sharma show last year along with Harbhajan Singh and had joked about Pakistani cricket. However, his act seemed to have angered the media and cricket fans back home.
Before Akhtar, Pakistani cricketing star Wasim Akram had been a part of dance reality show in 2008 which had cricketers dance with starlets. Akram judged the show with Sushmita Sen.
