Inzaman-Mickey Arthur on different ends in Umar Akmal case

The eight edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will commence from 1st of June in England. No Pakistani captain has lifted this elite trophy yet. The Asian giants are desperate to get their first Champions Trophy this year. In order to achieve that, coach Mickey Arthur is specially preparing the players to be physically strong throughout the tournament.

He said that the two regions which are of utmost importance to him are fielding and fitness. The Pakistani players are training hard in Birmingham where they will play the tournament opener against defending champions and arch-rivals India on 4th June. Three-hour long training sessions are held to make them physically fit.

83-year old chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Shaharyar Khan revealed that they are not going to allow anyone to don the green jersey who is considered as unfit. Under this decision, Umar Akmal had to return home. Akmal reportedly failed two fitness tests in two days. But the exclusion has created a friction in the relationship between Arthur and national selection committee chief Inzamam-ul-Haq.

The preface

Akmal failed in the fitness test at the conditioning camp at Lahore, as per the reports in Dawn. But he gave another test conducted by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) which declared him fit. Sources reveal that the test was carried out by Dr. Saboor and was supervised by former Pakistani captain Inzamam.

Mickey Arthur was very dejected at this since he has zero tolerance for any physically unfit player. While Inzamam wanted to have Akmal in the team for Champions Trophy, revealed the sources.

But Arthur probably found something fishy in the test conducted by the NCA. He ordered Grant Luden, the Pakistan team trainer, to conduct a test in Birmingham. Akmal failed two consecutive tests and was hence sent back home and was replaced by Haris Sohail. Arthur’s stern decision was reportedly not to the liking of Inzamam.