Kamran Akmal: “Nobody will talk [about] Iftikhar Ahmed’s statement about the middle order batter. If the same thing had been done by Umar Akmal, then it would have been taken against him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal believes his brother Umar would have been absolutely bashed if he had called himself a tailender instead of a middle order batsman like Iftikhar Ahmed did.
Iftikhar, one of the go-to power-hitters in the Pakistan team, surprised everyone when he said he classified himself as a tailender rather than a specialist middle order batter or an all-rounder.
Kamran finds it baffling that no one is criticising Iftikhar for his remarks and feels that if it were Umar who said it, he would have been lambasted by everyone.
“Nobody will talk [about] Iftikhar Ahmed’s statement about the middle order batter. If the same thing had been done by Umar Akmal, then it would have been taken against him,” he told Samaa TV.
Umar last played international cricket in October 2019 and was not involved in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh or the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over tournament held in Faisalabad.
He also didn’t play in the President’s Cup Grade-I (1-Day) competition.
Right now, the Pakistan team are taking on England in a three-Test series, which is tied at 1-1.
The third Test will start on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.