Kamran Akmal: “Why didn’t they give him a chance? Why didn’t they prepare him when the small teams used to tour? Because at that time, he wasn’t their favourite player”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal believes middle order batsman Kamran Ghulam had to wait so long to play international cricket because he wasn’t the previous management’s “favourite player”.
Ghulam has enjoyed a spectacular start to his international career as he scored a century on Test debut against England in October 2024.
From there, he has also played a number of stellar knocks in ODI cricket, where he is starting to get more and more game time.
However, Akmal conceded it is a shame that someone as talented as Ghulam had to wait so long before being given the chance to play for the country.
“I can’t blame the players. And the players themselves don’t say that we want to play. When you don’t put value and performance in international cricket, then such boys will keep playing domestic cricket. Their age will keep increasing,” he told PakPassion.
“When it is peak time, you look at Kamran Ghulam’s season, he has played 7-8 seasons, he has been playing domestic cricket for 10 years. You haven’t seen him playing, why didn’t they give him a chance? Why didn’t they prepare him when the small teams used to tour? Because at that time, he wasn’t their favourite player. The management and the chief selector, they weren’t letting him get close to the team. This is the reason. The person who has come here made the team. Who had the decision, they haven’t made a better decision.”
Ghulam recently featured in Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against Australia, but only batted once and scored five runs.
He got more time to bat in the three ODIs Pakistan played against Zimbabwe and made the most of it, amassing 120 runs, which included a career-best 103, at an average of 60.
As for the ongoing tour of South Africa, Ghulam did not feature in the T20I series, but did take part in the ODIs, where he accumulated 67 runs, which included a top score of 63, at an average of 22.33.
Pakistan and South Africa will now play two Tests, with the first match starting on December 26 in Centurion.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha