Adam Gilchrist condemns Saleem Malik’s accusations against Imad Wasim [Video]

Former Pakistan cricketer Saleem Malik has accused all-rounder Imad Wasim of deliberately wasting deliveries in Pakistan’s match against India on Sunday in New York. The match ended with Pakistan losing by six runs, despite having an upper hand for most of the game.

Wasim, who came out of retirement last month to join the T20 World Cup squad, walked in at No. 5 after Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal. He scored 15 runs off 23 balls, with only one boundary during Pakistan’s chase of 120.

Malik’s accusations centered on Wasim’s slow scoring rate, suggesting that Wasim was trying to boost his batting average, which he claimed contributed to Pakistan’s loss.

“He [Imad Wasim] made sure he doesn’t get out and keep bettering his batting average. If I’m a batter and I’m not getting runs then I would try taking risk, no matter if I get out. But he kept on eating up deliveries and then changed the ends with singles,” Malik said.

“Imad Wasim didn’t get to play much cricket since the last PSL. Shadab Khan, who scored 40-odd against the USA in the last game, shouldn’t have been promoted up the order. Sorry, but I would like to question why he [Imad Wasim] was promoted up the order, given that he hadn’t got enough chances before [the World Cup]. The batter should at least have tried something instead of playing dot balls,” he added.

The comments quickly spread on social media, drawing criticism and responses from cricketing circles, including a sharp rebuke from Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, who condemned the accusation of deliberate underperformance.

A bunch of ex-Pakistan cricketers haven’t missed their teams, at all. I mean Saleem Malik, of all people…I’m just reading the comments and paraphrasing, and I haven’t heard him say, but had I heard him, it wouldn’t have been to my benefit because it was in Urdu. He accused Imad (Wasim) of chewing up deliveries on purpose to make it a bit more interesting. Now I don’t know if there are other accusations which come with that,” he said with a smile of sarcasm.

Adam Gilchrist finding it ironic that a convicted fixer like Saleem Malik is accusing Imad Wasim of “underperforming deliberately” against India.

Pakistani ex-cricketers are international embarrassment pic.twitter.com/qYSW5AnjBT

— yang goi (@GongR1ght) June 11, 2024

Saleem Malik, who played 100 Tests for Pakistan and was part of the 1992 World Cup-winning team, has a history of controversy. He was banned for life in 2000 after being found guilty of match-fixing.