Shoaib Akhtar: “Is there any other cricketer who can speak well? Why [do] only me, Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram get all the advertisements? The reason is that we take it as a job”
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Shoaib Akhtar, the iconic Pakistan express bowler, said he, Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram are the only cricketers who star in all the advertisements.
He attributed this to their ability to speak well and noted that all three of them treat any advert they are in like a job.
His comments come after he took aim at limited overs captain Babar Azam for his poor communications skills, saying it was the reason why the 29-year-old is not the biggest brand in Pakistan.
“Is there any other cricketer who can speak well? Why [do] only me, Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram get all the advertisements? The reason is that we take it as a job,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was recently in action for Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and scored 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
The men in green started off with losses to the United States of America and India before fighting back to beat Canada and Ireland.
However, those two victories went in vain as Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed