Returning to our television screens with yet another gossip-filled season, the much-talked-about celeb talk show, Tonite with HSY officially kicked off on Sunday night with its first episode starring Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram – and boy, was it something!
From cricketers who they considered rivals to venturing into acting, the two cricket legends left no stones unturned in a never-before-seen camaraderie on prime time television.
What exactly did the two say that left us glued to our television sets? We have a list!
Shoaib Akhter wanted to be a fighter pilot!
That’s right, if you didn’t figure it out already, The Rawalpindi Express’ signature move on the pitch may have a story behind it after all, as according to Shoaib, he wanted to be a fighter pilot when he was younger. However, as luck would have it, cricket received one of its strongest bowlers instead!
“Not stars, but faces”
Leave it to Shoaib Akhtar to say it as it is. Talking about the cricketers of today, the two agreed with HSY that today it’s more about the persona on social media than the actual performance on the pitch. “They’re not stars, they are just faces,” Shoaib reiterated. “Recently 3-4 cricketers retired; boom, gone. No one remembers! The last of the performance-based stars was Younis Khan. The rest are faces, they are the ones who…put up selfies of themselves eating grapes!”
Now, that’s what we call brutally honest!
The lowest points
Discussing their ups and downs, HSY probed the two about their lows in life, and it seems, they really had some major ones! While for Wasim one of those moments remained losing the ’99 World Cup to Australia and the backlash they received for it, Shoaib felt his struggle with being handicapped had to be his biggest downer. “My lowest point was when I was born,” Shoaib said. “I wasn’t able to walk until the age of six and that was difficult.”
On acting and Bollywood
While it’s no secret that both the legendary cricketers have tried their hand in the Indian entertainment industry by either hosting or being part of Indian TV shows, HSY asked Shoaib why he didn’t pursue a career in Bollywood when he was getting offers. “I was getting offers, but I was afraid,” he said. “I would just tell them that I’d act later, right now I have to focus on cricket.”
However, leave it to HSY to probe the answer out of his guests, as Shoaib later confirmed on the show that he is, in fact, looking forward to probably signing a script. Focusing on a story of a gangster based in Lahore named Raja, the film will explore the transformation of the titular character.
Will Shoaib sign the film? We sure hope so!
On being controversial
Boy oh boy, if you thought the other moments of the show were interesting, nothing beats this. When HSY asked the bowler what his views were on being titled a ‘bad boy’, he just questioned the title and said, “Tell me one Pakistani celeb/star who is not controversial?†On this, HSY interjected saying Fawad Khan, while Wasim Akram says Misbah-Ul-Haq. Taking his fair share of silence, Shoaib replies, “I was talking about legends!”
One word: Awkward…
