Imran Khan is back but Wasim Akram is not to be found.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has re-released a tribute video to mark the country’s 77th Independence Day after being criticised for ignoring the contribution of World Cup-winning captain Imran. The new version now includes Imran and his iconic feat of leading Pakistan to World Cup triumph in 1992.

The PCB faced a backlash on social media after the video was released on August 14.

Late on Wednesday night, the PCB came out with a bizarre explanation that due to duration problems, the tribute video was abridged and some important clips were missing and had been rectified in the complete version.

It also said the PCB had launched a promotional campaign leading up to the 2023 World Cup and the tribute video was part of it.

Interestingly, the duration of the earlier video from which Imran was missing and that of the “completed” version is around the same but this time the Board has hacked all the clips and pictures of Akram and replaced them with Imran.

Cricket fans are now asking and wondering where has Akram disappeared.

Akram had lashed out at the PCB for overlooking the role of Imran in some of Pakistan cricket’s most memorable and iconic moments.

Another former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said the PCB’s explanation was hard to digest because the tribute video was modified after nearly 48 hours. “Why wasn’t the mistake accepted and resolved as soon as the backlash started on social media and in the media,” he asked.

He noted that PCB had a verified X (formerly Twitter) account and could upload clips and videos of up to 7-8 minutes in duration.

Written with PTI inputs