‘Only a frikkin game’: Akram recalls helping India bowler before his anti-Pak posts

Pakistan great Wasim Akram has urged fans on both sides of the India-Pakistan divide to stop carrying the emotions of past conflicts into cricket, insisting that one of the sport’s fiercest rivalries should ultimately be treated as nothing more than a game.Akram, while speaking on the 1 Mint podcast, also reflected on his long-standing association with former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, recalling how the young left-armer was a huge fan of his when the two first met in Australia. Akram said he gave Pathan a few tips early in his career, but joked that his former admirer now regularly posts comments against Pakistan on social media.“It’s a different thing that he keeps tweeting some or the other thing against Pakistan. But our fans are ready too. They don’t have the tendency to ignore either.