Former Pakistan fast bowler was left frustrated and upset on Wednesday, during the pre-match show ahead of the Pakistan-Afghanistan clash when asked about Team India’s twin losses.
India lost their first two Super 4 matches – to Pakistan and Sri Lanka – and now stand eliminated from the race to the final after Pakistan defeated Afghanistan on Wednesday.
But before the game started, broadcaster Star Sports showed Indian team’s promo and wanted to have the panel of experts Wasim Akram and Sanjay Manjrekar and host Mayanti Langer discuss Team India. This left the former Pakistani skipper perturbed that they have talked about the Indian team so much while ignoring that day’s game between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Wasim Akram didn’t want to talk anymore about Team India
In the pre-match show, host Mayanti asked Wasim Akram about India’s twin losses. Bothered by this, Akram passed this question away to Manjrekar saying, “Sanjay, this is all yours! Take it away.”
However, Mayanti insisted that Akram answer the question to which the former fast bowler agitatedly replied: “I think Rohit Sharma is probably sick himself, watching himself on TV. There are two other teams playing today. We discussed India yesterday all day long, but today it’s Pakistan vs Afghanistan, so Sanjay, all yours!” Both Manjrekar and Langer had sheepish smiles on their faces, realizing that Akram had had enough by then.
You can watch the video here:
Wasim Akram has had enough 😎#PAKvAFG #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/MXqBv6w1r8
— Akbar Choudhry (@Dr_A_Choudhry) September 7, 2022
Netizens applauded Wasim Akram for his honesty and bluntness. Many fans said that Akram was correct to speak his mind and slam the broadcasters for obsessing over Team India so much that they were ignoring the two teams in action on that day.
Here are some of the reactions of the fans to this video:
This is the issue with star sports, they only talk on india centric issue even on non india day matches.
— S (@_SR_____) September 7, 2022
wasim akram being a badass in this asia cup. I like his new style.
— Vjahat (@_anxious_rana) September 7, 2022
Great response from Akram. But this might cost him his T20 WC contract..
— Jatin Khandelwal (@jr_khandelwal) September 7, 2022
Yeah…i m wid wasim on this….these channels just 24hrs keep on talking nd praising indian cricketers…like new energy..style of play..nd bla bla..all d time…its jst bcoz they wanna sell d player nd increase thr viewership..thts it..at lest dekho match kiska chal rha .uff
— sandeep kumar (@241sandeep) September 7, 2022
Agree with Wasim Akram, even Indian viewers find the coverage cringy more often than not
— MSCB_YRRM (@martisubash) September 7, 2022
Meanwhile, after Afghanistan’s loss to Pakistan, both Afghanistan and India have been eliminated from the race to the final. Both of them lost two matches each – to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, these two teams have qualified for the final with two wins.
India and Afghanistan will meet in a dead rubber on Thursday in Dubai while Pakistan and Sri Lanka will clash in a pre-final game on Friday. The Asia Cup 2022 final will take place on Sunday, September 11, in Dubai.
