KARACHI: Former Test captain and fast bowling legend Wasim Akram has slammed Pakistan cricket team for eating biryani ahead of the World Cup starting on May 30.

Wasim feels the Pakistan players are not concerned about their diet and are eating junk food before a crucial tournament.

The Pakistan cricketers are often seen attending parties where they are feasted with all kinds of meals, including biryani — a widely popular Pakistani dish of spicy rice mixed with beef, mutton or chicken. The World Cup is round the corner and every team is expected to look after their fitness and diet. Pakistan team is often regarded as one of the most unfit team in the cricketing world and Wasim is worried about that.

Read: Restless selectors call up 23 probables for World Cup fitness test

“[Our] players are still being served biryani, you cannot compete against champions by feeding them biryani,” he said.

Wasim is not the only one worried about their fitness, the cricket team was criticised after they poorly fielded against Australia in a recently-concluded ODI series in the UAE.

The former pacer also added that he sees a future captain in pacer Mohammad Amir. This comes as a surprising statement as Amir’s place in the team for the World Cup is under scrutiny after his below average performance with the ball, particularly from the point of view of the number of wickets the left-armer has claimed during the last couple of years or so.

Pakistan open their 10-team World Cup campaign with the match against West Indies on May 31 at Nottingham.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2019