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ToggleOnce again, Kamran Akmal raised his concern over the selection procedure in the Pakistan Cricket Board. He questioned the selectors for ignoring him time and time again despite delivering goods in the domestic tournaments without fail.
Kamran Akmal has lashed out at former coach Mickey Arthur for giving too much importance to fitness and not giving young talents their due during his stint with the national team. He also hit out at the selectors for not rewarding players for performing in the domestic circuit.
I said play me as a wicket-keeper if needed – Kamran Akmal
Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, in a Talk Show on TV on Sunday night, lashed out at the selection process after the head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq announced the squad, in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, that will take on Bangladesh at home.
“I don’t lose heart but there is a limit. It’s been 5 years, you have brought a new system which will have the best quality, best talent and whoever performs will automatically be considered. Should I go and perform in India or Australia to be considered? I am Pakistan’s player, I have been performing for 5 years, how much should I tolerate it? Should I go to the Prime Minister and say this is my performance for 5 years? If there’s someone who is playing ahead of me with fantastic performances, that’s fine. I said play me as a wicket-keeper if needed,” Akmal told a Pakistan news channel.
I have performed in PSL:
Akmal said that cricketers like Abid Ali, who shone for Pakistan in ODIs and Tests in recent times, has had to face embarrassment for their fitness. Abid recently became the first male cricketer to score a century, both on his ODI and Test debut against Australia and Sri Lanka respectively. Akmal urged the team management to put more emphasis on the players’ skills than fitness.
”There are many players like me who are deserving, like Fawad Alam, look at his performances. I think his limit has also been reached. Am I talking without performances? There’s a World Cup coming up, I have performed in PSL, and in domestic in all formats and I am a top performer. Misbah should look at these things,” he added.
“How many fitness tests did Younis Bhai and Misbah Bhai give? It was Mickey Arthur who came here and started this problem of fitness tests. The culture has become like this, Abid Ali who made hundreds is hiding his face due to his test results. His confidence is being brought down. We all played domestic cricket this season and we played all matches without getting tired.”