Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis engage in Twitter battle over Anil Kumble’s ‘perfect 10’

Pakistan cricket at its peak is all about talented individuals who can turn the game on its head. The other ugly face is players and former players washing their dirty linen in public.

Pakistan cricket at its peak is all about talented individuals who can turn the game on its head. The other ugly face is players and former players washing their dirty linen in public. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were two of the greatest bowlers to grace the game, and they have seen both faces of Pakistan cricket. The lethal bowling pair has enjoyed great success together, but there was also a fierce rivalry. This time things went ugly as they retorted to a spat on Twitter. The subject here is Anil Kumble’s perfect 10.

February 7 marked the 18th anniversary of Kumble’s 10-wicket haul against Pakistan. He became only the second man in the game’s history to claim a perfect 10, after England’s Jim Laker achieved the feat in 1956. The then Pakistan skipper Akram was the last man to be dismissed, helping Kumble reach the milestone. On this occasion, Virender Sehwag congratulated his former skipper. He also tweeted a snap of an old article with Akram’s quotes and hailed the latter’s sportsmanship. And in doing so opened the Pandora’s Box. The article quoted Akram saying, “Kumble had got nine wickets and me and Waqar (Younis) were batting in the crease. Waqar came to me and said ‘How about getting run out?’ so that Kumble does not get his 10th wicket.’’ ALSO READ: Sehwag hails Akram for not allowing Waqar foil Kumble’s perfect 10

Kismat ke aage ,all saazish fail.
Well done Wasim bhai.
What a day it was at the Kotla by Anil bhai. pic.twitter.com/xDzMd39XOq

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 7, 2017

Waqar on Wednesday denied that any such incident took place. He took a dig at his senior former colleague and cited ageing as the reason for those comments.

@wasimakramlive This never happened !! I think age is catching up with Wasim Bhai #NotTrue. pic.twitter.com/ZK8sdjK64u

— waqar younis (@waqyounis99) February 8, 2017

Akram was quick to defend himself and tweeted back, “@wayounis99 Get your facts right mater. And if we are going to go down the “age” road you know I’ll Beat you in that game every time.”

Maybe Akram is implying that he has a better memory or it is about age-fudging. Akram, however, deleted the tweet.

About the Author