Advertisment
Cricket

'Ek sentence me 4 grammatical mistakes hoti hai iski' - Shoaib Akhtar takes a dig at Kamran Akmal on-air over 'English-speaking' row

Shoaib Akhtar took a dig at Kamran Akmal for mispronouncing English word on a live TV show. Here's how fans reacted.

author-image
Jennifer
New Update
Shoaib Akhtar takes a dig at Kamran Akmal

Shoaib Akhtar takes a dig at Kamran Akmal (Source: Twitter)

Shoaib Akhtar is taking it too far with his obsession with creating brands out of Pakistani cricketers. Earlier in the week, the former Pakistan speedster stirred controversy with his statement on Babar Azam. He said Babar is not a brand in the country because he cannot speak English properly—this time, he took a dig at Kamran Akmal on a live TV Show.

Advertisment

Speaking on-call in a Live TV show hosting former Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Kamran Akmal on its sets, Akhtar narrated an incident where Kamran mispronounced the word 'screen. Akhtar says, 'Kamran Akmal was our big match winner, but he was once pronounced 'sacreen' whereas the correct pronunciation must have been 'screen'. Shoaib Akhtar further said, 'I just want that Babar should also be seen as a big brand. He is compared to Virat Kohli. You see them, how they speak. These things are to be understood because the time has come to understand these things.

'For a cricketer, only his cricketing skills give him fame' - Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was not one to keep quiet after these updates. He gave his statements centring the importance of talent over anything else in the game.

Advertisment

"He (Babar) is a great player. And for a cricketer, only his cricketing skills give him fame. Yes, the fluency in communication and being an articulate speaker add to your charisma. But this is not a defect. If you're not an expert in communication, if you're not a natural, it's not a defect," Butt said on his official YouTube channel as he replied to Akhtar's jibe.

"He is a sensible person. If he doesn't have a command on a secondary language, there is nothing bad about it. Many athletes speak in their mother tongue intentionally when they are at the top of the podium and ask the translator to convey the message. We should feel proud that we have ownership of our language," said Butt.

"Yes, there is nothing bad in knowing another language. But Babar ko naa toh kisi draamey ka voiceover karna hai, naa hi TV pe khabrein padhni hain. (But neither does Babar have to give a voiceover for a drama series nor does he have to read news on television). Babar is himself a brand. He's world no.1 consistently; tell me, how many Pakistan players have done that in the last 3-4 decades? The least we can do is give him the credit he's due. There's no one better than him," the 38-year-old added.

Advertisment

"The very fact that we are talking about him proves that he's a brand. You only talk about the person who is relevant. He will learn with time. There are so many players in Pakistan who learnt the language when they lived abroad. I don't know why he (Akhtar) needed to say things like that. We should support him. You don't need to talk about these things on a public platform. If you really want to see him improve, you should call him, meet him, and tell him in private," he further added.

Here's how fans have reacted to Shoaib Akhtar's hurtful comments:

 

 

Pakistan featured Shoaib Akhtar Babar Azam Kamran Akmal