Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has dropped some bombshells in his autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir, which throws light on the left-arm pacer’s outstanding career. The book featured some of the iconic moments of Akram’s career and has also revealed some explosive details.

During the 1990s, Akram, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, faced fixing allegations when ex-pacer Ata-ur-Rehman claim??ed that Akr??am offered him 3-4 lakh rupees to fix games.

Now, through his autobiography, Akram has opened up on the fixing accusations, calling former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif a lobby??ist. The ex-Pakistan captain highlighted how Latif pointed fingers at him only to gain attention.

“The lobbyists were at work. In July 2000, Rashid Latif gave an interview to The Sunday Telegraph in which he claimed to have been offered £15,000 to ensure Pakistan were bowled out for under 300 in the 1996 Lord’s Test. And who knows? Maybe he had. But had he told me, his captain, at the time? No. Had he reported it to his coach or manager? No. Had he told Qayyum? No. Amazingly, these stories only ever came out when he wanted attention,” read an excerpt from Akram’s book.

Akram then went on to call his former teammate and opener, Aamir Sohail as, a ‘Zombie figure’. Notably, Sohail had once claimed that Akram tried his best to make sure Pakistan did not win a World Cup after 1992.

“I was publicly reinstated as captain for the DMC Trophy in Toronto. The clamour for change was satisfied by a new coach, Wasim Raja, and new selectors: Wasim’s brother Ramiz, Naushad Ali and Abdur Raquib. They recalled, after his tireless lobbying, the zombie figure of Aamir Sohail,” the excerpt added.

Akram played 104 Tests and 356 ODIs for? Pakistan, in whic??h the left-armer picked 414 and 502 wickets, respectively.

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In the 1999 ODI World Cup in England, Pakistan’s brilliant run in the tournament was curtailed by the eventual winner of the tournament, Australia, in the final of the competition.

Now, former Pak??istan opener Aamir Sohail has lam?ented the loss which created quite a stir in the country a couple of decades back.

“When I was captain in 1998, we had decided with the selectors that we should have regular openers for the World Cup who can stay at the wicket and play out the new ball,” Sohail said on his YouTube channel.

Sohail then criticised Wasim Akram’s move to pair Shahid Afridi alongside legendary opener, Saeed Anwar.

During his criticism, Sohail claimed Afridi received backing from Akram even though he could neither ‘bat or bowl’.

“Unfortunately, you opted for Shahid Afridi, he had the ability on flat low-bouncing tracks where he would take on the bowlers and bring the opposition under pressure. But in demanding conditions, that is a big gamble. He was neither able to bowl nor able to bat. If I was the captain instead of Wasim Akram, I would have preferred Mohammad Yousuf,” Sohail added.

“So, according to me there were two reasons for your loss at the World Cup. One was that your team combination was not correct at all and the other that you opted to bat after winning the toss when you knew that it had been pelting down in London,” the commentator lamented.

Further, Sohail explained how Akram erred in his decision to bat first on a juicy Lord’s pitch at overhead conditions.

“Before the World Cup final, there were reports that it had rained a lot in London. As it is, there is a slope at Lord’s due to which the ball does something all the time,” Sohail said. “Salim Malik told me that he had requested Wasim Akram not to bat first after winning the toss else we would be in great difficulty. We should not have exposed our batsmen on a difficult pitch against a confident Australian bowling line-up,” Sohail concluded.

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Venkatesh Prasad claimed 96 Test wickets and 196 ODI wickets in 194 international matches for India from 1994-2001, but he ??is well known for his send-off to Pakistan opener Aamir ??Sohail during the high voltage tie between the two neighbours in the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal match.

In the winners’ take all match at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, India scored 287-8 in their 50 overs. But Pakistan openers Saeed Anwar and Sohail were on fire as they added 84 runs for the first wicket. Javagal Srinath sent Anwer back to give some respite to the hosts. Then, the momentum completely swung India’s way in the 15th over following Sohail’s departure dramatically.

Recalling his on-field tussle with Sohail on FanCode Facebook page, Prasad said: “There’s not even a single day that goes by without anybody, whoever sees me, come what may, would definitely ask me, every single day from the last 24 years.

“He [Sohail] should’ve just gone back to his crease probably after getting that, but there was some exchange of words and a gesture that he made which didn’t really go well. Obviously, with the entire nation and spectators who were watching, and of course, with me as well. My blood was really boiling, and we needed a wicket.

When asked about the send-off, the 50-year-old said, “I would’ve been penalised for that sort of gesture because that’s when the ICC Code of Conduct had come into the picture during the ’96 World Cup; so I had to be very careful. And Shepherd was the umpire, so Azhar, Srinath and Sachin, everybody came to my rescue; otherwise, I would’ve probably been penalised or may be banned.”

World Cup moments: When Venkatesh Prasad gave Aamer Sohail a send-off for the ages#INDvsPAK #WorldCup #Sports #Cricket #TV9News pic.twitter.com/0cv2q4FbHA

— Tv9 Gujarati (@tv9gujarati) September 5, 2019

After retiring from the game, Prasad turned coach for India Under-19 team which played the Youth World Cup ??in 2006, and the likes of Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja were under his tutelage.

Now talking about the colts he helped groom for the international stage, Prasad said, “These three guys – Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma – I had no doubt about their talent and their capabilities. I knew very well that they’re going to go a long way. In fact, the moment the U-19 World Cup (2006) was over; I did write to BCCI in my report saying that these players should be fast-tracked into playing Ranji Trophy or the zone matches, this is what I had said.”

Prasad was also the bowling coach of the Indian team when they won the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa under the captaincy? of MS Dhoni.

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