Wasim and Waqar were ‘Selfish’ and ‘Jealous’ of me - Saleem Malik

Former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik has left no words minced as he came out with outrageous claims with regard to the legendary fast-bowling duo - Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Malik, who took over as captain post Imran Khan, has made bold claims that the legendary bowling duo displayed utter disdain following his appointment. 

He claimed that the duo was absolutely disapproving of his elevation and could not accept him as their leader. 

While talking to Geo Super News Malik said, "Wasim and Waqar were my support but as a professional, they would concentrate on their performances. Do you know that they both (Wasim and Waqar) wouldn't speak to me because I was made the captain? I even talked to them about it a couple of times. When I would ask them to bowl, they would snatch the ball from me. I had become the captain, whereas Wasim and Waqar wanted it."

Pakistan won 7 out of the 12 Test matches and 21 out of the 34 ODIs he captained during his short and just about a year-long stint in that role. 

However, the former captain feels that his leadership stint was curtailed owing to the outside politics.

Throwing more light on the issue, he added, "They weren't talking to me and still, we won the series. I would tell him, 'Waz, you are the world's No. 1 bowler. If you get wickets or not, it won't affect me because it's your own reputation. Waqar would surely get five wickets, but. That's how I made him operate. And I would use the same ploy on Waqar. This is what is called management. I used my brain to make sure they kept performing."

"In the series against South Africa, we had won 5 matches out of six. Because I was winning matches and series for Pakistan, some people had a problem with it. How to counter? What should we do so that he is removed? I didn't understand back then what was happening because I was not part of any politics," Malik clarified.

The 59-year old had a dreadful end to his professional career when he was banned for life by the Pakistan Cricket Board for being found guilty in one of the most noteworthy match-fixing scandals in 2000. 

The controversial figure was guilty of offering bribes to Australian cricket stalwarts such as Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim May to make them underperform during their tour of Pakistan in 1994-95.