Akhtar had slammed the PCB and its legal advisor in Umar Akmal suspension case.
Recently, Akhtar went after PCB’s legal team after Umar Akmal was banned for three years from all cricket for not reporting multiple corrupt approaches. “The board has given cover to saved and rehabilitated match-fixers, which has developed this mindset that ‘okay I will serve my six-month or two years ban but will be back again like Sharjeel Khan’,” Akhtar had said in a video.
He also called PCB’s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi an “inept person” for being hard on Akmal but not being able to “read a basic contract”.
PCB, on the other hand, released a statement criticizing Shoaib Akhtar for his “poor choice of words”. “The PCB is disappointed with Shoaib Akhtar’s poor choice of words while publically commenting about the PCB’s legal department and its legal advisor. The language used by Shoaib Akhtar was highly inappropriate and disrespectful, and cannot be condoned in any civilized society,” the PCB statement said.
PCB’s legal advisor lodges defamation case against Shoaib Akhtar for inappropriate comments
Meanwhile, Younis Khan, who led Pakistan to the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup glory in England, backed Akhtar and in a post on Twitter mentioned that it requires the backbone to say what the Rawalpindi Express has been saying for all this while.
“What a befitting and bitter truth spoken by Shoaib Akhtar! It takes a backbone to be simply uncompromisingly forthright. Time for Pakistan Cricket Board to honestly evaluate his remarks for the betterment of Pakistan cricket and its players. I stand by with Shoaib Akhtar,” Younis said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Akmal’s suspension has been welcomed by former captain Rameez Raja as well, who said that the talented batsman has officially made it to the “list of idiots” and that people like him should be put in jail.