Pakistan should move on from Umar Akmal believes Mohammad Zahid

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Zahid has written about some major issues in Pakistan cricket the most critical of them being the spot-fixing scandal in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the replacement of Umar Akmal. The second edition of the PPL which was plagued by the spot-fixing scandal has been otherwise a very successful tournament.

It has been a long time desire of the cricket fanatics in Pakistan to bring back cricket to the country and the PSL has successfully done that. The final of the league was hosted in Lahore and it was an emphatic one to witness. But the spot-fixing scandals have damaged the image of Pakistan cricket believes Mohammad Zahid who thinks life ban is the appropriate punishment for the players who have been involved in it.

Another major issue which he addressed was about Pakistan batter Umar Akmal. Zahid believes that Pakistan should stop persisting with Umar and it is time to give the youngsters a spot in the team. According to the former Pakistan cricketer, they have loads of talents that can replace the 26-year-old who is not that important a player.

The 40-year-old also wrote that there is no hope of improvement in Akmal’s attitude and thus it is not right for Pakistan cricket to stick with him. Zahid in his blog for Pakpassion.net stated: “Let’s be clear here, Umar Akmal is not that established a player that we cannot replace him. He has recently been dropped for fitness reasons and before that it was discipline which was cited as a reason for ignoring him.”

“He is not that important a player and has been around for a few years, so we must consider a replacement for him. I do not see any way in which his attitude and situation can improve in the short run so why continue wasting time on him? We should forget about him and move on and get another deserving player to take his role.” He added.

“Fact is anyone given so many chances can also match Umar so I don’t see why we need to persist with him. His attitude and general mental approach is not what Pakistan needs and the feeling of entitlement for a Pakistan spot on his behalf is also not needed given Pakistan’s current position in the ODI rankings.” Zaid wrote.