ISLAMABAD: Former captain Wasim Akram said he did not have time to respond to negative people and preferred to ignore their comments.

Recently erstwhile opener Aamir Sohail hurled allegations on the former fast bowling great stating that his ‘captaincy drama’ was the main reason behind the team not winning a single major event post the 1992 World Cup till 2003.

Reacting to the criticism, Akram said it was sad that his name was being used by some people to get attention. “I retired from cricket 17 years ago but people still take my name to further their own interests. But I put that in the back of my mind [ignore them]. I don’t have time for negative people now, and never will,” Akram was quoted as saying by PakPassion.net.

He said he spent 10 years with Imran Khan on the field and when he [Imran] came into politics some 22 years ago, people made fun of him. “After 22 years of perseverance, he is there [Prime Minister of Pakistan now],” he said.

“Take the negativity of people as a challenge, use it as motivation and don’t bring yourself down because of them. This should start a fire inside you when you hear such stuff. Remember we have all made mistakes. I have made a lot of mistakes. If I am allowed to go back in time, the mistake I would not make again is picking up friends with care. Of course, you cannot be choosy about childhood friends but you need to be careful about the ones in later years. They should be those who motivate you,” he said.

“There are two unwritten contracts in life - trust and loyalty. Some people don’t know about these and for a little fame they tell lies and destroy others’ lives and move on,” he added.

According to Akram, several people have asked him to write a book but he is of the view that if he did so, it would upset many people. “If I write a book and given what I know about Pakistan cricket’s issues off the field, I will probably upset a lot of people and ruin some people, including myself.”

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020