Umar Akmal: “We are told that we are too old to play or even mentor the team. But players who are 45 years old are still playing. What are we supposed to do? Shoot ourselves?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has claimed that he, Ahmed Shehzad and Sohaib Maqsood were “told that we are too old to play or even mentor” in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Akmal hasn’t played domestic cricket since February 2024, while Shehzad and Maqsood’s last domestic matches came in May 2024 and November 2023 respectively.
Even though Akmal, Shehzad and Maqsood are 35, 33 and 38 respectively, it should be noted that there are players their ages or older featuring in the PSL.
Most notably, veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who is 43 years old, played two games for the Quetta Gladiators in PSL 10.
With that in mind, Akmal asked how he, Shehzad and Maqsood are being classified as too old to take part in the tournament.
“We are told that we are too old to play or even mentor the team. But players who are 45 years old are still playing. What are we supposed to do? Shoot ourselves?” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
After PSL 10, Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, which they won 3-0.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub
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