Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal: “Whenever the team has been in a tough situation, I have helped it as a batter, wicketkeeper and fielder”
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Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal said whenever the national team “has been in a tough situation, I have helped it as a batter”.
Akmal is trying to resurrect his international career after he was banned for failing to report corrupt approaches ahead of the 2020 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
He was initially given a three-year ban, but it was halved to 18 months following an appeal in July 2020.
It was further reduced to 12 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and he was fined 4.25 million Pakistani rupees.
Free to play cricket again, the 32-year-old represented the Quetta Gladiators in this year’s PSL and scored 101 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 50, at an average of 20.20 and a strike-rate of 174.13.
He followed that up with 135 runs in seven games for Central Punjab in the Pakistan Cup at an average of 19.28.
“Whenever the team has been in a tough situation, I have helped it as a batter, wicketkeeper and fielder,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Pakistan’s next series will see them play two Tests against Sri Lanka in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka Tests:Â Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah