Pakistan played like Sri Lanka in the first ODI against England: Kamran Akmal

The 39-year-old acknowledged that wins and losses were part of the game but stated that character needed to be shown in an international fixture

PHOTO: AFP

Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, in a Youtube video on Friday, expressed his disappointment at the Men in Green’s surprising defeat against a depleted England side in the first One-Day International (ODI) in Cardiff by stating that it felt like Sri Lanka was playing instead of Pakistan.

The 39-year-old acknowledged that wins and losses were part of the game but stated that character needed to be shown in an international fixture.

“I don’t understand which way our performance is heading. It should get better by the day but Pakistan had a fully confident team who had played PSL, beaten South Africa. Wins and losses are part and parcel but character needs to be shown now. Neither our cricket nor our selection process is right,” Akmal said.

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The wicketkeeper-batsman claimed that England bowled out Pakistan for a low total and it should have been the opposite.

“The way Pakistan played cricket, it didn’t feel as if Sri Lanka had left England. It felt as if England was playing against Sri Lanka itself. England did something that Pakistan should have done, bowling the opposition out for 141. Ben Stokes’ captaincy was outstanding,” he concluded.