Kamran Akmal blames captain and coach after being overlooked from Asia Cup squad

With the Asia Cup slated to get underway in a couple of weeks and right after the Pakistan team for the tournament was announced wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has levied huge allegations. Akmal who last played an ODI for Pakistan in April 2017 was ignored from the squad despite his rich form in List A cricket and it has definitely touched a nerve.

After understanding that he hasn’t been given a much-deserved chance, the 36-year-old blamed the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and head coach Mickey Arthur for biased team selection. His wrath also extended to the chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq as Akmal said the selection decisions are made by the skipper and the coach even the selectors seem to have no say in it.

“These days, only the coach and captain decide who plays in the side. It seems that the chief selector does not have major say in such decisions although the decision should be unanimously taken by all three,” he was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

Only miracle can get me back

Though age is not on his side Kamran very recently showed he still has it in him to pile up the big runs. He was leading the Federal Areas team in the Pakistan Cup and used that as an opportunity to show the world that he wasn’t done. In the tournament played in April-May this year, the right-hander scored a couple of hundreds and his team emerged as the champion.

In the larger picture, he scored 3236 runs in his 157-ODI career with 5 hundreds and 10 fifites batting at the top of the order. Over the years Pakistan tried quite a few names but seem to have finally found the sort of combination they were looking for in Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq.

He sounded pretty frustrated and talked about burning his kit and hitting himself with the bat as only a miracle can now bring him back into the team. “Should I burn my kit bag or hit myself with a bat? Perhaps the only time I will come under reckoning is courtesy of a miracle,” Akmal added.

Personally, he thinks, he’s done enough for people to notice that he is fit enough and playing the kind of cricket that one needs to get picked and there is still some of it left in him. “My fitness and performance is there for everyone to see. I don’t think my cricket playing days are over yet.”

He is also aware of the fact that putting out any statement like that might subject him to a show cause notice from the board. “If I am going to raise voice for my rights, a notice will be served in response,” he concluded saying.

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