Shoaib Akhtar accepts TV anchor Dr Nauman Niaz’s apology, says ‘let’s move on from this’

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has accepted TV anchor Dr Nauman Niaz’s apology over the ugly on-screen verbal spat that went viral when the former pacer was told by the anchor to leave the show. Akhtar had immediately announced that he is resigning as Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV)’s cricket analyst. 

The entire saga blew out of proportion when the pace spearhead was slapped with a Rs 100 million defamation notice issued by the national television authority, which stated that Shoaib’s resignation on October 26th was not only a breach of the clause but also resulted in significant financial losses for PTV. 

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the former cricketer wrote that the incident that broadcasted on Pakistan’s national television was “unpleasant” and it had hurt his “sentiments”. However, Akhtar said he is accepting the apology of Dr Nauman Niaz, adding that “let’s move on from this”. 

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What happened between Akhtar and Dr Nauman Niaz?

During a TV show related to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, Akhtar was told on-air by Niaz to leave that grabbed attention in the cricketing world as videos and pictures of the same went viral on the social media platforms. 

Legends like Sir Viv Richards, David Gower, Rashid Latif, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Mahmood, Umar Gul and Sana Mir were also present. 

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Later, the anchor offered an “unconditional” apology to Akhtar, however, he also added that the cricketer took the channel for “granted”. 

During a YouTube interaction, Niaz told fellow journalist Rauf Klasra, “The repercussions of my on-air outburst are totally fair. To err is human, that should not have happened and for that, I can apologise for not only once but a million times.”