Waqar Younis expresses his concerns for Umar Akmal

Presently, Pakistani middle-order batter Umar Akmal is certainly witnessing one of his toughest times in his cricketing career. He was dropped from the national side for the Champions Trophy in England, earlier this year due to fitness issues. And now, Umar was also overlooked by the national selectors and head coach Mickey Arthur in the list of probable finalized to attend the training camp for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Former Pakistan head coach and legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis expressed his concerns towards the inconsistency and poor fitness of the talented Umar Akmal.

Earlier, Waqar was with the national team in the capacity of a head coach but was sacked after the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 in India. The former pacer revealed that he felt really sad as Umar being an experienced player is not concentrating towards his fitness and approach towards the game. He further stated that the lack of opportunities provided to Akmal is a big reason for his failure.

“I sometimes feel pity for Umar and feel sad for him because he has abundance of talent, but he does not concentrate on his fitness and also does not perform consistently and that has affected his career,” said Waqar, as quoted by the source ANI.

Issue should have been handled in a better way

After being dropped from the national side, Umar made a shocking revelation and claimed that national coach, Arthur, used ‘foul language’ and then abused him at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. The right-handed batsman said that the chairman of selectors Inzamam-ul-Haq and former leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed were both witnesses to the incident.

Waqar stated that the Akmal-Arthur spat should have been handled in a lot better way by the Pakistan Cricket Board. “The current issue between Umar and Arthur should be sorted out with mutual understanding, and there is no need for any inquiry,” claimed the fast bowler.

He also rubbished the allegations against Pakistani head coach of abusing Akmal and termed it as a sign of showing frustration towards the coach. “Every coach could be a bit harsh with the players but only for their own benefit,” he said. “Umar’s father has also admonished his son at times, so this is not a big matter. It also seems that frustration has caught up with Umar because he is not getting chances to play international cricket,” Waqar concluded.

Umar has already got fair number of chances

On the other hand, Pakistan Cricket Board feels Umar Akmal has been granted a number of chances to prove his fitness and ability to play for the national side. “While making frivolous allegations against the national team management, Umar has made a bogus attempt to deviate attention from his own failings. Umar was given as many as seven chances to improve his fitness and match the standards of his teammates, laid out by the team management,” PCB said in its statement.