Akhtar slams Pak TV for 'off-air' ing him, says it's 'hilarious'

Islamabad: Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan cricketer, slammed Pakistan news channel PTV for taking him and TV host Nauman Niaz off air till the enquiry on the duo's on-air spat is completed, Hindustan Times reported.

Akhtar said that PTV's move was "hilarious". He resigned in front of "220 million Pakistanis and billions across the world". "Who are they to off-air me?" he asked.

PTV said that Akhtar and Niaz' "won't be allowed" to be part of any of the channel's programmes until the inquiry is completed.

Akhtar and Niaz had a rub on-air during PTV's special programme "Game on Hai" after Pakistan's victory over New Zealand in T20 Word Cup 2021. The row began when Niaz- the show host- asked Akhtar whether Pakistan made a mess of chasing New Zealand. Akhtar disagreed and ignored the line of questioning but talked about pacer Haris Rauf, and Niaz tried to interrupt him.

The annoyed and irritated host told Akhtar that he had been misbehaving with him and, in the end, asked Akhtar to leave the show. He had said that Akhtar was over-smart.

To Akhtar's annoyance, who tried to respond quickly, Niaz turned towards other guests. But after a commercial break, the stage turned worse after Akhtar said he would like to close the unpleasant incident but demanded an apology from Niaz, but the latter did not budge and started discussing the match.

A few minutes later, Akhtar turned to other guests on the show, apologised to them and announced he was resigning from PTV sports.