Srinagar: Former World Cup winning cricketer Pakistan Wasim Akram has lashed out at Pakistan Cricket Board for giving a major snub to World Cup winning skipper Imran Khan in its promotional video.
The PCB on August 14, 2023, to commemorate Pakistan’s 76th Independence Day released promotional video. The video, which aimed to celebrate the country’s illustrious cricket history, omitted any reference to Imran Khan, the legendary cricketer who led Pakistan to its first and only World Cup victory in 1992.
Imran Khan’s omission from the video, therefore, sparked widespread outrage among fans and experts alike. The video, which traced back to Pakistan’s international cricket debut in 1952 and captured some of their biggest moments, was met with severe backlash for not involving Imran Khan.
Wasim Akram, who was one of the biggest match-winners of the Imran Khan-led side, took to social media to express his shock at Imran Khan’s exclusion.
“… I got the shock of my life when I watched PCB’s short clip on the history of Pakistan cricket minus the great Imran Khanâ€æ political differences apart but Imran Khan is an icon of world cricket and developed Pakistan into a strong unit in his time and gave us a pathwayâ€æ PCB should delete the video and apologies,” Wasim said in tweet on Thursday, August 16.
Earlier social media platforms were flooded with criticism, with hashtags like “#ShameOnPCB” trending. Former women’s player Urooj Mumtaz was among the many who criticised the PCB, expressing her disbelief at the omission of Imran Khan from the video.
The controversy escalated quickly, with fans and experts denouncing PCB’s attempt to omit the World Cup-winning captain from the video celebrating the country’s cricket history.