On Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) marked the occasion of nation's 76th Independence Day with a moving video tribute to the luminaries of the sport and their contributions to the country's cricketing heritage. Spanning a duration of two minutes and twenty-one seconds, the video traversed through Pakistan's cricketing journey, commencing with their inaugural foray onto the international stage in 1952. The narrative went through the triumphant World Cup victory in 1992, before culminating at the juncture of the 2022 T20 World Cup, where the current Babar Azam-led side etched their name onto the final in Australia.
However, the commemorative video also sparked outrage due to the rather shocking omission of Imran Khan, the towering figure whose charismatic leadership guided Pakistan's win in the 1992 World Cup. Many consider the absence of Imran, who also served Pakistan as its prime minister in his post-cricketing career, to be politically-fuelled, and even the former Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram expressed his anger at Imran's exclusion.
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Akram played a large part of his initial international career under the captaincy of Imran. In his autobiography, Akram has also shared numerous anecdotes illustrating how even years after Imran Khan's retirement, the former Pakistan skipper remained his unwavering go-to figure for most matters related to cricket.
“After long flights and hours of transit before reaching Sri Lanka, I got the shock of my life when I watched PCB’s short clip on the history of Pakistan cricket minus the great Imran Khan… 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 pathway… PCB should delete the video and apologise,” Akram said in a strongly worded post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
{{/usCountry}}“After long flights and hours of transit before reaching Sri Lanka, I got the shock of my life when I watched PCB’s short clip on the history of Pakistan cricket minus the great Imran Khan… 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 pathway… PCB should delete the video and apologise,” Akram said in a strongly worded post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
{{/usCountry}}The video is still accessible on PCB's official X page, with caption, “Making history isn't just about one day; it's about the legends we create and the tales we script. Pakistan Cricket Team – a legacy that echoes through time.”
The erstwhile cricketer-turned-politician was arrest once again earlier this month – the second instance within a span of four months. An Islamabad court pronounced a verdict that sentenced the former Pakistan Prime Minister to three years of imprisonment, simultaneously disqualifying him from political involvement due to his involvement in "corrupt practices."
The law enforcement officials apprehended the 70-year-old from his residence following the court's pronouncement of the verdict pertaining to the Toshakhana case. In this case, he faced allegations of participating in the sale of state gifts valued at hundreds of millions of rupees.