Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has recalled a hilarious anecdote from the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia, involving the Bay 13 crowd. With Bay 13 identified as one of the most decorated area of the iconic venue, the former left-arm seamer recalled the sledge dished out to him by the spectators.
In a video posted by Triple M on X, the legendary cricketer spoke about the incident during Pakistan's fourth-innings run-chase at MCG. The incident dates back to 1989, five years after Akram's debut, and Pakistan had travelled to Australia for ODI tri-series and bilateral Test series. However, the 57-year-old had to deal with several boos after delivering a fiery bowling performance at he MCG against the hosts.
When asked by his fellow commentators about the incident, the 104-Test veteran narrated:
"So, at Bay 13, I was fifer or something and they called me that 'Wasim is a banker, Wasim is a banker'. At that time, I couldn’t get hold of the Aussie accent as it was my early days in Australia. So I was very happy and was waving at them. And then Imran came up to me, my captain. He said you know what they are saying. I said yes, they are saying you are a good player. Imran said no, they are saying you are a ‘w****r’".
Spirited Pakistan fall short as Australia take unassailable lead:
As far as the 2023-24 MCG Test against Australia goes, Pakistan fell 79 runs short despite their best efforts on day 4 as Australia defended 317 successfully. Coming into the day, Australia held a lead of 241 and Alex Carey's 53 took the hosts ahead by 300 runs.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins, who took five wickets in the first innings, added another 5 to his tally in the second and made crucial breakthroughs by bowling every spell relentlessly. The home side eventually took the series by an unassailable margin of 2-0.
