'Kitna mushkil hai English seekhna?' - Shoaib Akhtar launches scathing attack on Babar Azam

Former Pakistan speedster, Shoaib Akhtar has slammed current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam over the latter's communication skills. The former raised his concerns over current Pakistani players not becoming a brand in their own country. Akhtar pointed out how the current crop of players present themselves during the post-match ceremony and how awkward it feels to him. The former speedster raised a question on whether it is too difficult to learn English.

The Rawalpindi also spoke about how Azam can be the biggest brand in Pakistan. However, the former conceded that Azam doesn't speak English very well. The fans might remember the instances when the Pakistan skipper has faced issues while speaking to the English-speaking presenters.

“Abhi aap dekh le, koi character nahi team mein. Naa koi baat karne ka tarika. (You can see there’s no character in the team, nor they know how to talk). How awkward it looks when they come to the presentation. Kitna mushkil hai English seekhna aur baat krna? (How difficult is it to learn and speak English?). Cricket is one job, and handling media is another. If you can’t speak, I am sorry, but you won’t be able to express yourself on TV,” Shoaib Akhtar said.

“I want to openly say that Babar Azam should be the biggest brand in Pakistan, but why hasn’t he become the biggest brand in Pakistan? Because he can’t speak,” he added.

The reason former cricketers get advertisements is that we take it seriously: Shoaib Akhtar

The 47-year-old further spoke about how he and his teammates get brand endorsements despite being retired. Akhtar said that he, Shahid Afridi, and Wasim Akram take the endorsement seriously and have good communication skills.

“Is there any other cricketer who can speak well? Why do only I, Shahid Afridi, and Wasim Akram get all the advertisements? The reason is that we take it as a job.”