If Wasim Akram had asked me to do match-fixing, I would have killed him: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar spoke about the match-fixing era in the squad and how he would not have listened to Wasim Akram if he had approach him regarding the same.

“I was watching few matches of the 1990s and I was amazed to see how Wasim Akram got Pakistan through impossible situations with his brilliant bowling,” Cricket Pakistan quoted the Rawalpindi Express as saying during a television show.

“I will say it very clearly that if Wasim Akram had asked me to do match-fixing, I would have destroyed him or even kill him. But he never said such a thing to me,” he added.

Akhtar also thanked Akram for supporting him during the early days of his cricketing career.

“I played with him for seven to eight years and I can quote many instances where he gave me cover by taking the responsibility of picking up the top-order wickets while leaving the tail-enders for me,” said the 44-year-old.

“He even let me bowl from my preferred bowling even though he had a lot more wickets that I did,” he added.

As for Akhtar, the fast-bowler represented Pakistan in 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is in which he scalped 178, 247 and 19 wickets respectively.

He is currently part of a controversy after suggesting to have India and Pakistan matches in Dubai to raise funds to help fight the coronavirus pandemic in both the countries.