Former Pakistan cricketer Saleem Malik on Monday alleged that all-rounder Imad Wasim, who only came back from his retirement last month to be part of the T20 World Cup squad, deliberately wasted deliveries during the match against India on Sunday in New York. Pakistan lost the match by six runs despite dominating against India for the better part of both the innings.

Wasim, who walked in at No. 5, after the dismissal of Fakhar Zaman during Pakistan's chase of 120, and scored only 15 runs in 23 balls, which comprised only one boundary.

Following the loss, Malik accused Wasim of wasting deliveries during his sluggish knock, en route to Pakistan's loss, only to up his batting average.

"He [Imad Wasim] made sure he doesn’t get out and keep bettering his batting average. If I’m a batter and I’m not getting runs then I would try taking risk, no matter if I get out. But he kept on eating up deliveries and then changed the ends with singles,” Malik said.

“Imad Wasim didn’t get to play much cricket since the last PSL. Shadab Khan, who scored 40-odd against the USA in the last game, shouldn’t have been promoted up the order. Sorry, but I would like to question why he [Imad Wasim] was promoted up the order, given that he hadn’t got enough chances before [the World Cup]. The batter should at least have tried something instead of playing dot balls,” he added.

The comment, which went viral on social media, caught Australia legend Adam Gilchrist's attention and he took a brutal dig at alleging a player of a deliberate act in a losing cause.

“A bunch of ex-Pakistan cricketers haven't missed their teams, at all. I mean Saleem Malik, of all people...I'm just reading the comments and paraphrasing, and I haven't heard him say, but had I heard him, it wouldn't have been to my benefit because it was in Urdu. He accused Imad (Wasim) of chewing up deliveries on purpose to make it a bit more interesting. Now I don't know if there are other accusations which come with that,” he said with a smile of sarcasm.

Notably, Malik, who played 100 Tests for Pakistan and was part of the 1992 World Cup-winning squad, was banned for life after being found guilty of match-fixing in 2000. Australian cricketers Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim May had accused the former Pakistan captain of offering them bribes to underperform during their tour of Pakistan in 1995.

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