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'Time To Grow Up': Shoaib Akhtar Calls Out ICC For Omitting Babar Azam From WC Promo

image-lkeheknfShoaib Akhtar slams ICC (Twitter)

Former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar has joined his country’s bandwagon of revolting against the International Cricket Council (ICC) for excluding Babar Azam from their World Cup 2023 promo.

A promotional video hyping up the tournament released a few days ago, featuring Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan along with several cricketing stars from across the world.

While the promo released with widespread audience acclaim from Indian fans, it drew much backlash from the Pakistani segment. Notably, the commercial did feature ace Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi and 2019 World Cup star Wahab Riaz.

Shoaib Akhtar asks ICC to "grow up"

Shoaib Akhtar has expressed his frustration towards ICC for having limited Pakistani presence in their 2023 World Cup promo content. The former cricketer took to Twitter and claimed that the creative team behind the video have presented themselves as a “joke”.

The video, over two minutes long, was released by the ICC across their social media platforms on July 20. The entertaining clip features archival footage of nostalgic moments from the preceding World Cup editions.

Interestingly, the advertisement also featured India women’s cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues in a sizzling cameo, alongside excerpts from Team India’s 1983 and 2011 World Cup wins.

Regardless of the video, Pakistan team will launch its World Cup 2023 campaign with a match against qualifiers’ runners-up Netherlands on October 6. However, it is their imminent clash against arch-rivals India that will generate much buzz nine days later at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.