Kamran Akmal Disappointed With Pakistan Selectors For Dropping Sajid Khan For Sri Lanka Test Series

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal lashed out at selectors over the selection of Pakistan’s Test squad for the Sri Lanka series next month.

Pakistan men’s cricket team is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in July to play a two-match Test series, which is also part of the World Test Championship 2021-23.

Yasir Shah returns to the Pakistan Test squad for Sri Lanka Tests

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named an 18-member Test squad under Babar Azam for the two Tests against Sri Lanka, who are currently slotted in the fourth position on WTC 2021-23 points table.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah will be seen in action after almost a year as the 36-year-old was on the sidelines owing to a thumb injury picked during the National T20 Cup last year.

Spin bowling all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Ali Agha, who is likely to make his international debut for Pakistan, will join Yasir in the spin department for the two Tests in the island nation next month.

Sajid Khan has been replaced by a part-time off-spinner: Kamran Akmal

Yasir, who was instrumental in Pakistan’s 2-1 Test series win in Sri Lanka in 2015 with 24 wickets in three Tests, replaced off-spinner Sajid Khan in the squad. Sajid played three Tests against Australia early in March and returned with four scalps at an average of 119.25.

Akmal, who has played 53 Tests for Pakistan, expressed his disappointment towards selectors for dropping Sajid Khan as the 40-year-old feels the team will miss a genuine off-spinner.

“There is not a single genuine off-spinner in the 18-member Test squad of Pakistan for the Sri Lanka tour. Sajid Khan has been replaced by a part-time off-spinner but this is not the approach to win Test matches,” Akmal was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

The Pakistan team will arrive in Sri Lanka on July 6 and will play a three-day warm-up game in Colombo, which will start on July 11. The two teams will kick off the first Test at the Galle International Cricket Stadium on July 16.

Also Read: Pakistan Announce Squad For 2-Match Test Series Against Sri Lanka; Yasir Shah Returns