'I don’t have time for negative people now, and never will': Wasim Akram

ISLAMABAD: I do not have time to respond to negative people, hence I ignore their comments, former captain Wasim Akram said Thursday.

Recently, former Pakistan opening batsman Aamir Sohail has hurled allegations at the former fast bowling great stating that his "captaincy drama" was the main reason behind the team not emerging victorious in a single ICC World Cup post the 1992 World Cup till 2003.

Reacting to the criticism, Akram said it was sad that his name was being used by some people to get attention. “I retired from cricket 17 years ago but people still take my name to further their own interests. But I put that in the back of my mind [ignore them].

"I don’t have time for negative people now, and never will,” Akram was quoted as saying by website PakPassion.net.

Akram said he spent 10 years with legendary Imran Khan on the field and when he [Imran] came into politics some 22 years ago, people made fun of him. “After 22 years of perseverance he is there [Prime Minister of Pakistan now]”, he said.

“Take the negativity of people as a challenge, use that as motivation, and don’t bring yourself down because of them. This should start a fire inside you when you hear such stuff. Remember we have all made mistakes.

I have made a lot of mistakes. If I am allowed to go back in time, the mistake I would not make again is picking up friends with care. Of course, you cannot be choosy about childhood friends but the ones in later years, you need to be careful about and to make sure that their principles are good. They should be those who motivate you.”

“There are two unwritten contracts in life – trust and loyalty. Some people don’t know about these and for a little fame they speak lies and destroy others’ lives and move on.”

According to Akram several people were asking him to write a book but was of the view that if do so it would upset many.

“If I write a book and given what I know about Pakistan cricket issues off the field, I will probably upset a lot of people and ruin some people, including myself.”