'It's not about winning ICC Player of the Year...': Akhtar's indirect dig at Babar while lauding Azam Khan

Babar Azam is one of the most talented batters in current times in the modern era. He is among the top-five batters across formats currently, at the top spot in ODIs, and is regarded by many to become a legend by the time he signs off from the highest level. At times, he has been slammed for his ordinary strike rate in T20Is and most recently, Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at him for not being able to communicate in English. Now, the former pacer took an indirect dig at him while praising Azam Khan's performances in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023.

After Azam Khan played a blinder in Islamabad United's 202-run chase versus Karachi Kings, Akhtar was left impressed by the youngster. He appreciated his well-compiled inning and also for how 'smartly he spoke in the interview'. Azam slammed a match-winning 41-ball 72*, laced with 8 fours and 4 sixes, at a whopping strike rate of 175.61. He is the son of former wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan.

Akhtar praised Azam and said while speaking to Suno News, "I found Azam Khan to be a responsible guy who can build innings, not just slog. He spoke smartly in the interview as well, and it felt nice to hear him speak like that as he talked about his performance. When I was playing 20 years ago, I didn't care how I spoke. But in today's era, being in the media is part of your job. I can only indicate and pinpoint for you, ‘this is a problem, please go and correct it. It's for your own benefit'. He (Azam) looked like captaincy material with the way he spoke."

The ex-Pakistan speedster then took a dig at Babar and stated, "When Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzaq used to play, they would say, ‘the whole ground and its crowd is mine. I control the atmosphere in this place'. And Azam was controlling that. That's how you become a star. It's not just about winning ICC Player of the Year awards, no no. The things Azam did... the crowd backed him, and he took their ownership. He was like, ‘I'm here to run the show."

Notably, Babar won the ICC Player of the Year award in January. It will be interesting to see if the current Pakistan captain responds to Akhtar's blunt statement.