Wasim Akram controversy: The Pakistan cricketing landscape has been a very strange one and it has continued to remain so for many years now. In a fresh set of controversy, former Pakistan speedster Wasim Akram has made revelations about his initial playing days in the Pakistan Cricket team. In his biography 'Sultan: A Memoir', Akram has written or rather revealed a few things that haven't gone down well with his former skipper Salim Malik. The former left-arm pacer has revealed that Malik used to take advantage of his seniority and treated him like a servant on tours.
An excerpt from Akram's book reads:
He would take advantage of my junior status. He was negative, and selfish and treated me like a servant. He demanded I massage him, he ordered me to clean his clothes and boots. I was angry when some of the younger team members in Ramiz, Tahir, Mohsin, and Shoaib Mohammad invited me to nightclubs.
It is a well-known fact that both Malik & Akram continued to remain teammates for several years, but they certainly were not on very good terms. The Pakistan stalwart played under Malik's captaincy from 1992-1995 and won 7 out of 12 Tests and 21 out of 31 One Day Internationals (ODIs). Previously Malik has been very vocal and critical about the harsh treatment that he received from both Akram and Waqar Younis. Malik who was held guilty of match-fixing in 2000 didn't mince words and said that Akram wanted the captaincy role for himself.
Malik has now come out in his defence and has said:
I was trying to call him but he did not answer. I will ask him what was the reason for writing what he did. If I was narrow-minded, I would not have given him the chance to bowl. I will ask him why he wrote such remarks about me.
