Kamran Akmal calls out previous management over bias selection

Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, in a press conference at the National Stadium in Karachi on Monday, called out the previous Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management for their faulty selection process, which he believed was based on personal preferences.

Akmal praised the current management for its commitment to giving chances to players who have performed in the domestic circuit.

“The previous management used to make teams based on personal liking and disliking,” said Akmal. “The new management is giving the chance to those who are performing in longer formats in domestic cricket. If the previous management had given priority to domestic performers, then things would have been different.”

The 37-year-old blamed the exposure of youngsters without adequate experience as the main reason for Pakistan’s dismal win-loss ratio.

“We have opted to expose our youngsters too quickly because of which our winning ratio has gone down. I'm not against putting youngsters in the team, but they should have a few years experience before getting promoted to the national team. They should play at least a few seasons of first class cricket and get maturity,” he said.

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Akmal rued the fact that one or two performances in the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) were now deemed enough to merit a place in the national side.

“We aren’t giving a lot of importance to domestic performers and just one or two performances in the PSL can get you inducted in the team which isn't good for Pakistan Cricket. Players from my batch survived long because we had played three to four years in domestic cricket to gain professional maturity,” he said.

The veteran wicketkeeper expressed hope of an eventual comeback into the national side based on consistent performances.

 “I believe in hard work and aim to keep doing that. My focus is on giving 100 percent commitment on the field. I believe that I can still be part of the national squad as there’s a need for a settled batsman at number five or six in Pakistan team for test cricket. There are two wicket keepers in major teams, why can’t we have the same,” he concluded.