'Named an IPL team" - Shoaib Akhtar cries foul as ICC doesn't include Pakistan players in Team of the Decade - Watch
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The International Cricket Council on Sunday announced the Team of the Decade for all three formats and on Monday, ICC revealed the winners of all individual awards. Irked by the ICC Team of the Decade, which features none of the Pakistan players, former speedster Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at ICC for ignoring Pakistani players from its list while saying they announced “IPL Team of the Decade”.
The International Cricket Council on Sunday announced the Team of the Decade for all three formats and on Monday, ICC revealed the winners of all individual awards. Irked by the ICC Team of the Decade, which features none of the Pakistan players, former speedster Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at ICC for ignoring Pakistani players from its list while saying they announced “IPL Team of the Decade”.
Akhtar, in his YouTube channel, said that he thinks ICC forgot that Pakistan is also a cricket-playing member while arguing that Babar Azam should have been in ICC’s T20I Team of the Decade.
“I think ICC forgot that Pakistan is also a member of ICC and they also play T20I cricket. They did not pick Babar Azam, who is currently the number one batsman in the ICC T20I rankings.
“There is no big player than Babar Azam in T20I. He is a top-scorer for Pakistan and his averages show what he has done for the country, even in comparison with Virat Kohli. It is so embarrassing and I’m sure after this video they will think that they have to announce the World Team of the Decade, not the IPL team,” Shoaib Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
WATCH: Shoaib Akhtar slams ICC for not including Pakistan cricketers in Team of the Decade
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Akhtar further accused ICC of announcing an IPL team instead of World XI team.
“They did not pick a single player from Pakistan in the team. We don’t need your (ICC) T20I Team of the Decade because you announced the IPL team, not a world cricket team,” Akhtar said.
The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ went on to slam ICC for commercialising cricket while accusing them of thinking only about money, sponsorship and TV rights.
“ICC only thinks about money, sponsorships and TV rights. They introduced two new balls and three powerplays (in the ODI cricket). Where is Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, big five of West Indies, Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis)?
“Where are the world’s fastest bowlers and leg-spinners? They went away because ICC commercialised and materialised cricket so much and allowed ten leagues to earn more revenue,” Akhtar said.