Shoaib Akhtar's YouTube channel among others banned by Indian government for national security after Pahalgam attack

Former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar, Rashid Latif and Basit Ali's YouTube channels have been blocked in India. Their pages have been banned by the Indian government following the Pahalgam terror attack.

26 people were killed and several were left injured in the dastardly attack on April 22. The Indian government has now decided to take down YouTube channels of some former Pakistan cricketers, citing 'national security or public disorder' as the reason.

Akhtar, Latif and Basit Ali have all seen their respective channels getting banned in India. Here is the message displayed when a user searches for their YouTube pages in India:

"This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order."

Below are the screenshots from their respective YouTube pages:

Screenshot of Shoaib Akhtar's YouTube page - Source: Shoaib Akhtar/YT

Screenshot of Basit Ali's YouTube page - Source: Basit Ali/YT

Screenshot of Rashid Latif's YouTube page - Source: Rashid Latif/YT

However, the YouTube channels of three other ex-Pakistan cricketers are still active. These cricketers are former all-rounder Shahid Afridi, former batter Salman Butt, and former spinner Danish Kaneria.

Below are the screenshots from their respective YouTube pages (taken on April 4, at 4pm IST):

Screenshot of Shahid Afridi's YouTube page - Source: Shahid Afridi/YT

Screenshot of Salman Butt's YouTube page - Source: Samlan Butt/YT

Screenshot of Danish Kaneria's YouTube page - Source: Danish Kaneria/YT

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Shoaib Akhtar's international career and IPL record

Shoaib Akhtar is among the most prominent and feared fast bowlers to have played the game of cricket. He represented Pakistan in all formats at the international level.

He played 46 Test matches, picking up 178 wickets at an average of 25.69 and a strike-rate of 45.7. As far as white-ball cricket is concerned, he played 163 ODIs, and 15 T20Is for Pakistan. He grabbed 247 ODI wickets at an average of 24.97 and a strike-rate of 31.4, while in T20Is, he managed to pick up 19 wickets.

Shoaib Akhtar was also a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during its inaugural season in 2008, which was the first and last time Pakistan cricketers featured in the IPL. He represented the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), playing three matches for them and picking up five wickets.