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…he cant speak English: Shoaib Akhtar hits out at Babar Azam’s communication skills

Cricket…he cant speak English: Shoaib Akhtar hits out at Babar Azam's communication skills

Srinagar: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has criticised Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his lack of communication skills and for not speaking English.

Akhtar said that playing cricket is one thing and handling media is another, and if Babar can’t speak, he won’t be able to express himself.

In an interview with a Pakistani channel, the right-arm pacer slammed the communication skills of Pakistani players, including Babar.

“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,” 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.

According to him, the only reason why he, along with former greats like Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi, is preferred over present-day cricketers by brands for advertisements is their 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.”

Babar has faced criticism for his communication skills in the past as well. During a press conference in 2020, he was asked about his English language skills, to which he responded that he was working on improving his communication skills.

“I’m a cricketer; my job is to play cricket. I am not a ‘gora’ who knows English thoroughly. Yes, I am working on it, but you learn these things over a period of time; you can’t just suddenly learn it,” Babar had said.

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