Shoaib Akhtar ‘would have killed Wasim Akram’ had he asked to fix matches

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has made it abundantly clear many times his abhorrence for match-fixers who choose money over country. In a recent interview, he claimed that if his ex-captain Wasim Akram had approached him to fix matches, Akhtar “would have killed him”.

“I will say it very clearly that if Wasim Akram had asked me to do match-fixing, I would have destroyed him or even kill him. But he never said such a thing to me,” Akhtar was quoted as saying in a chat by Cricket Pakistan.

Akhtar went on to praise Akram for his captaincy.

“I was watching few matches of the 1990s and I was amazed to see how Wasim Akram got Pakistan through impossible situations with his brilliant bowling,” he said. “I played with him for seven to eight years and I can quote many instances where he gave me cover by taking the responsibility of picking up the top-order wickets while leaving the tail-enders for me.”

The pacer, while reiterating that Akram never asked him to throw matches, admitted that he didn’t much appreciate his captain during their playing days. He added that he regretted not “appreciating his greatness”.

“After watching these old matches, I called him and apologised to for not truly appreciating his greatness while playing with him,” Akhtar said.

Akhtar played 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is during his career.