Kamran Akmal: “Look, the reason spinners have become less common is because they haven’t been given the chance. You haven’t played them; those who did manage to establish themselves have been sidelined, like Yasir Shah, and then there’s Noman Ali”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal cannot quite understand why the national selectors sidelined two successful spinners in Yasir Shah and Noman Ali.
He brought the duo up when touching upon why “spinners have become less common” in Pakistan.
The men in green have struggled to find new spinners lately and Akmal attributed this to the fact that they are not given proper opportunities even after showing plenty of promise.
“Look, the reason spinners have become less common is because they haven’t been given the chance. You haven’t played them; those who did manage to establish themselves have been sidelined, like Yasir Shah, and then there’s Noman Ali,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently took on the West Indies in a two-Test series and Noman did exceptionally well, claiming 16 wickets, which included two five-wicket hauls, at an average of 12.62.
While Noman is back in the Test team, especially for matches held in Pakistan, Yasir hasn’t represented his country since July 2022.
Both spinners were not picked for the recent ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, where the men in green made it to the final before losing to the Black Caps.
They also failed to make the cut for the 2025 Champions Trophy, where Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage after losing to New Zealand and India.
Their final group stage game against Bangladesh was washed out.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
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