Umar's career destroyed by PCB for non-cricketing reasons: Kamran Akmal

Experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal’s scathing attack on the Pakistan team management could hurt his chances of making a comeback to international cricket.

Kamran lashed out at the team management for making his younger brother Umar Akmal a sacrificial lamb.

Umar was dropped for the coming tour to Bangladesh by the new selection committee earlier this week while Ahmed Shehzad was restricted to the T20 squad after head coach Waqar Younis and captain Misbah-ul-Haq apparently complained about the behavior of both youngsters during the World Cup.

According to a report in Dawn news Kamran said in an interview that Umar’s career was being “destroyed” for non-cricketing reasons.

“Umar has always put the cause of the team ahead of any personal comfort. If there were any (disciplinary) issues then coach and team management need to guide youngsters and help them understand that they have done something wrong.

“Discarding them like is not a smart option and it does not reflect well on part of the team management. Good teams can only be built by managing players properly,” Kamran said.

He said his brother needs to be stopped being used as a sacrificial goat.

“To his (Umar’s) credit, he has willingly compromised for the sake of the team without any complaints. This is not how good players are made. On the contrary, this is how you destroy good players.”

An official in the PCB told PTI that chairman, Shaharyar Khan was fast losing patience with the growing habit among discarded and former players and also among some of the current team players to give controversial statements in the media.

“The interesting thing is that the national selectors had recently inquired from the cricket board that they wanted to consider Shoaib Malik and even Kamran for future planning and whether the board had any issues with this,” the official said.

“The selectors wanted to know whether Malik and Kamran were cleared of any disciplinary or other issues by the board,” he added.

He added that the selectors were keen on giving Malik another chance.

“This statement from Kamran is not helpful to himself or his brother and even though right now he is not a contracted player but we could seek an explanation from him,” the official stated.

PTI