Shoaib Akhtar, former fast bowler of the Pakistan cricket team known as Rawalpindi Express, has revealed that former President Asif Zardari had threatened the former chairman PCB to remove the 5-year ban imposed on him.
Shoaib Akhtar had told Waseem Badami in an interview 3 years ago that a Federal Minister of Rawalpindi had sent him back from his house after calling him home, but the 5-year ban on him was lifted by Asif Zardari.
In an interview given to Waseem Badami in August 2020, Shoaib Akhtar said that “After being banned for 2 years in the past, I called an influential person (federal minister) of Rawalpindi, on which he invited me to his house, but instead of helping me, he entered the house. Not allowed and sent back from the gate.
Shoaib Akhtar said, “This incident was not a help but a lesson for me. I told him on the intercom from the gate at that time that you wanted to humiliate me, why did you call me?” Then I told him that he will remember that you are the minister, but your name will live on, not mine, to which he said, “Let’s see.”
During this show, Shoaib Akhtar praised former President Asif Zardari and said that “When I was banned for 5 years, my friend Faisal Butt took me to Mr. Zardari”.
On Waseem Badami’s question, Shoaib Akhtar further said that Asif Zardari had not become the President at that time, he was about to become and Pervez Musharraf was being impeached.
Shoaib Akhtar said that “Asif Zardari called the late Salman Taseer and said to Chairman Cricket Board Naseem Ashraf that Shoaib is our son, our child, this is the matter of our party, he has to play IPL, you should ban him.” Terminating or we will replace the new chairman.
The former fast bowler further said that after that Naseem Ashraf was picked up from somewhere in the middle of the night, he said that I have to make a phone call. After that, Shoaib did not give further details of the incident.