KARACHI: Veteran cricketer and commentator Shoaib Akhtar has called for a probe at "highest level of the government" after the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2021) was postponed Thursday morning due to players testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
Akhtar lambasted the Pakistani cricket authorities for what he claimed was their lack of experience. "Disturbed & disheartened by PSL postponement," he wrote.
"These people couldn't maintain a bio-secure bubble for such a high profile tournament. Sad."
"Those who never organised tape-ball cricket are organising PSL! Those who don't even know how to write prescriptions — can you believe it? — this has happened with me, with the PCB doctors," he said.
Visibly annoyed, the veteran Pakistani cricketer — nicknamed the 'Rawalpindi Express' for his sheer pace — commented on how the image of the sport was dented across the globe. "So again I'm really, really angry that the PSL brand came to a stop and was ruined and its reputation damaged.
"What message are we sending to the world?" he asked.
Shoaib Akhtar went on to demand a probe into the matter, saying it needed "to be looked at at the highest level of the government".
"So I want a really, really highly qualified — with honourable people — on the investigation [and] not through the board," he said, referring to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The commentator has in the past too made video statements, expressing his indignation and displeasure over various issues related to Pakistani cricket.
He last made headlines when he had lashed out at the PCB for releasing what he termed was "the worst song" in "the history of the PSL".
"If the 10 worst songs of the PSL are compiled, this song will be number one," he said, referring to "Groove Mera," the 2021 anthem sung by veteran singer Naseebo Lal, 25-year-old Aima Baig, and rapper duo Young Stunners. "Do you have any shame?"
The former pacer had mocked the PSL 2021 anthem by saying his children stopped talking to him ever since he played it for them. "My kids are scared of this song. When they don't sleep, I tell them I'll play it for them. That immediately scares them," he said.
Akhtar went as far as to say even the singers who sang the anthem "did not know the meaning of the word groove".
"Neither did I get the lyrics nor the song. What does groove mean? What is groove," he asked, before adding that he would "file a serious case against the PCB through his YouTube videos" for making such an awful song.
The buffed-up, right-arm fast bowler, who apparently dislikes and lashes out at multiple things from time to time, also attacked Young Stunners over their fashionable, vibrant suits in the PSL 2021 anthem's video.
"What have you done? You hid the clothes of our Chief Selector Mohammad Waseem and dressed the rappers in them," he said.