Wasim Akram (L) with Imran Khan (C) and other cricketers after winning the 1992 World Cup at MCG in Australia.

Gulf Today Report

Cricket legend Wasim Akram on Wednesday criticised a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) video, released on the country's Independence Day for omitting the reference of their only ODI World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.

Wasim Akram has urged the PCB to apologise and delete its Aug.14 video that paid homage the country’s cricketing legends and milestones but made almost no mention of Imran Khan — the cricketer-turned politician under whose leadership Pakistan won its sole World Cup in 1992.

The PCB released a video on Aug.14 with the hashtag #BeyondJustOneDay, highlighting the major contributions of some of their top players and the biggest moments in the Pakistan cricket history, since 1952 when they played their first international game.

The video was met with severe backlash for not involving Imran, who is not just a revered figure in Pakistan's cricket history but also served as the country's prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022.

In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, the 57-year-old Akram stated that he got the “shock of his life” after watching the video “minus the great Imran Khan.”

"After long flights and hours of transit before reaching Sri Lanka, I got the shock of my life when I watched PCB's short clip on the history of Pakistan cricket minus the great Imran Khan… political differences apart but Imran Khan is an icon of world cricket and developed Pakistan into a strong unit in his time and gave us a pathway… PCB should delete the video and apologise," Akram said in a tweet.

Notably, Imran is widely regarded as the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced and one of the game's greatest all rounders. He led them to their first global title in 1992 at the MCG.

The legendary cricketer also led Pakistan to a famous trilogy of drawn Test series with the best side of that time, West Indies, as well as major ODI triumphs in Sharjah and the Nehru Cup — a mini World Cup of sorts in India in 1989.

In 2018, Imran was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, after a two-decade long political career but was ousted last year after a vote of no-confidence by parliament. He is currently incarcerated in Attock Jail.