Former star Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal is very much agitated over not making it to the comeback of the national cricket team. He recently spoke about some bitter issues where conversations with erstwhile chief selector Wahab Riaz turned out to be bitter experiences. The last time he represented Pakistan was in 2019 playing against Sri Lanka.
He couldn’t believe that someone would be asking him to trial just like it has 16 Tests, 121 ODIs, and 84 T20Is in his record. He also poured some old complaints about the former head coach Waqar Younis underlines how damaging were the comments by waqar denigrating him during his Test career to have troubled his confidence.
Akmal explained how after one of his hundreds in a Test he was critiqued but did not get the support. He also mentioned that poor performances make him feel like he was mocked, which really hit him as a young player.
Read Also: Lowest Score in IPL History
“I kept saying I want to play, and Wahab asked me if I have played in any trial matches. I was confused. I told him I’m available,” Akmal shared this with a channel in a recent TV interview. The trial request felt disrespectful for his 15-year career. Looking back, he described how Waqar’s remarks, like ‘You have now started playing T20 cricket in Tests’, just after centurion and barbs after bad innings, were really demoralizing and affected his growth.
With 1,003 Test runs, 3,194 One-Day International runs, and 1,690 T20 International runs, Akmal is still out of Pakistan’s set-up and is not even part of PSL 2024. The one-time regular of Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators has 1,029 PSL runs and a strike rate of 144.31 against his name.
Akmal has scored 1,003 runs in Tests, 3,194 in ODIs, and 1,690 runs in T20Is but finds himself not part of Pakistan’s set-up and missing PSL 2024. Former regulars for Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators, he ends up with 1,029 PSL runs at a strike rate of 144.31.
