Karachi: In a startling revelation, pace legend Wasim Akram has accused his former Pakistan teammate Saleem Malik of treating him like a servant in the early part of his career. Wasim Akram made his international debut in 1984. He said that senior teammate Malik made him give massage and clean his clothes and boots.
Akram made the revelations in his biography Sultan: A Memoir. “He would take advantage of my junior status. He was negative, selfish and treated me like a servant. He demanded I massage him, he ordered me to clean his clothes and boots,” read an excerpt from the biography, according to reports in Pakistan media.
“I was angry when some of the younger team members in Ramiz m(Raja), Tahir, Mohsin, Shoaib Mohammad invited me to nightclubs,” Akram added.
Akram played under Malik’s captaincy from 1992 to 1995 and there were reports that the two players were not on good terms.
Malik, however, denied the allegations. He said Akram wrote all these to promote his book. “I was trying to call him (Akram) but he did not answer. I will ask him what was the reason for writing what he did,” Malik was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media.
“If I was narrow minded, I would not have given him the chance to bowl. I will ask him why he wrote such remarks about me,” Malik added.