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‘I was your captain, you weren’t mine’ – Miandad reignites old feud with Imran

Imran Khan and Javed Miandad
by Wisden Staff 2-minute read

Javed Miandad has reignited a long-standing feud with Imran Khan, his former teammate and the current Pakistan prime minister, saying “I’ll come to politics” to challenge Imran.

In an extraordinary tirade on his YouTube channel, Miandad lambasted Imran for ruining Pakistan cricket by appointing ‘outsiders’ in key positions, and accused Imran of being “like god now”.

“I was your captain, you weren’t my captain,” said Miandad. “I’ll come to politics and then I’ll talk to you. I was the one who led you all the time, but you act like god now. It is almost like you’re the only intelligent person in this country as if no one has gone to Oxford or Cambridge or any other university.

“Think about the people around you, the ones you have brought along. You don’t care about the country. You came to my home and went out as a prime minister. I am saying it today, I challenge you to deny this.”

As Miandad accused Imran of appointing “outsiders” to the PCB, the video displayed images of Wasim Khan, the PCB CEO, and Ehsan Mani, its chairman. “All officials in the PCB do not know the sport,” said Miandad. “I will talk to Imran Khan personally about the sad state of affairs. I will not leave anyone that is not right for our country.

“You appointed an outsider on a key position. What will happen when he flees the country for corruption? Is there a shortage of people in your own country that you had to bring people from outside to work in the PCB?”

Miandad and Imran have always had an uneasy relationship, believed to have been sparked when Imran declared overnight in the fourth Test of their home series against India in 1983, when Miandad was unbeaten 280, with sights on Garry Sobers’ record 365.

It also didn’t help that Imran left Miandad out of Pakistan’s initial squad for the 1992 World Cup. Miandad was later brought in as replacement by the management, without Imran’s consent, it is said, and Pakistan went on to thrillingly win the tournament, with both Miandad and Imran scoring half-centuries in the final against England.

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