Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal: “I don’t know why I was removed from Pakistan’s team. I performed well in domestic cricket, but I was not picked in [the] PSL or training camp”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Senior Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has no idea why he was dropped from the national team back in 2019.
The 33-year-old was also at a loss for words to explain why he wasn’t selected by any franchise for the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) or for the fitness camp being held with the Pakistan Army in Kakul, Abbottabad.
He pointed out that he has worked hard to meet the fitness standards required to play international cricket and has also been performing well in domestic cricket.
In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QeA Trophy), Akmal played for the Lahore Region Whites and scored 141 runs in three matches, which included two fifties, at an average of 47.
He then mustered 95 runs in six games in the Pakistan Cup at an average of 15.83 before going on to make 113 runs in eight National T20 Cup matches at an average of 16.14 and a strike-rate of 95.76.
Most recently, Akmal was in action in the President’s Trophy Grade-I and amassed 517 runs in seven games for the Water And Power Development Authority (WAPDA), which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 39.76.
“I’m working on my fitness. I tried to meet [the] fitness standards of Pakistan’s team and I’m keeping myself fit. I don’t know why I was removed from Pakistan’s team. I performed well in domestic cricket, but I was not picked in [the] PSL or training camp,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will be held in Rawalpindi and Lahore from April 18 to 27.