PAK vs CAN: Saleem Malik levels serious 'match-fixing-like' allegations against Imad Wasim following IND vs PAK clash

Former Pakistan crickets Saleem Malik and Shahid Afridi have called out the National team after their loss to arch-rivals India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

India and Pakistan met each other for the 8th time ever in an ICC T20 World Cup edition since its inception back in 2007. Since the very beginning, it has always been the Indians who have had an upper hand over the Pakistanis. Whether the group match in the 2007 edition or the finale, the Men in Blue have always come out on top except one time.

Back in 2021, Babar Azam had led Pakistan to their first-ever victory against India at a T20 World Cup but after that win, they have lost twice already. During the 2022 edition, Virat Kohli had snatched the win from the Pakistanis and last night, the Rohit Sharma-led side came out on top yet again.

The match was a low-scoring thriller which went absolutely down the wire and up until the final delivery of the 2nd innings. Pakistan were in need of just 120 runs off 120 balls and while this equation looks simple on paper, the execution of the task was extremely poor. In the end, the Green Army lost by 5 runs and that triggered reactions from Shahid Afridi himself as well as Saleem Malik.

Saleem Malik takes Imad Wasim in the scope

Former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik went all out against all-rounder Imad Wasim, who was called back to the National team set-up only 2 months ago. Wasim had announced retirement back in 2023 and he was only playing in the domestic leagues around the world. His call back had anyways become a subject of criticism and his performance yesterday put him on the hit list even more.

Yesterday at the Nassau County Stadium during Pakistan's run chase, Imad Wasim had a terrible performance as he scored just 15 runs off 23 deliveries. That's highly questionable from a player who was called back by the board itself. On his poor knock and consumption of almost 4 overs, Saleem Malik bashed him during a chat with a National level news channel.

Saleem Malik alleged Wasim that the latter deliberately wasted so many balls and that he played selfishly and just wanted to up his average that's it. "You look at his (Wasim) innings and it appears as if he was wasting balls not scoring runs and making things difficult in the run-chase," Saleem Malik told 24 news channel.

What did Shahid Afridi say?

Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi also had a few things to say for the team. Afridi claimed that he is going to bash a lot of people in the current team and that he is just waiting for the World Cup to end before he makes any revelation.

"A captain brings everyone together, either he spoils the team environment or he builds the team. Let this World Cup finish, and I will speak openly," Shahid Afridi said.