Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal launched a scathing attack on current skipper Babar Azam, head coach Saqlain Mushtaq and PCB chairman Ramiz Raja, accusing them of favoritism within the team.
Kamran Akmal, who is known for making critical comments about the present Pakistani cricketing dispensation claimed that while Babar Azam and Saqlain Mushtaq were selecting players in the team based on their likes and dislikes and the board chief Ramiz Raja was aiding them by approving their choices.
“I have been talking for the last four to five years about liking and disliking in the team. The same thing is happening in domestic cricket. This will damage Pakistan cricket as these things are coming out and have now become obvious,” Kamran Akmal said in a conversation with Cricket Pakistan.
Kamran Akmal also emphasized that such a culture within the outfit wasn't there during his playing days but now individuals were ruling the roost in the Pakistan cricket team.
“When we used to play, this culture was not there. Has anyone talked about these things during our time compared to today, where players are saying openly? The concerned individuals used to form good teams. The best way is to dig out performance. We can't say only the captain is doing it. PCB Chairman must start from High Performance camp where best coaches are thrown out and friends are being appointed,” Kamran Akmal said.
“There is no coordination in management; they are egoistic and think that they will remain in PCB for their whole life. I have seen that all the blame is associated with players and management doesn't take on to them. The past three coaches also blamed players and didn't accept that our decisions were wrong”, Kamran Akmal added.
Though Kamran Akmal stated that he had high hopes from Ramiz Raja when he stepped in as the head Pakistan Cricket Board, things haven't improved much. Instead, the situation has become much worse because players who are scoring big runs at the domestic level are unable to make it to the national squad while the ones who are somebody's favorite are being included in the team.
“Tell me when coaches have been held accountable. But I have hope because of Ramiz Raja, who is also a former cricketer”, Kamran Akmal stressed.
“Ramiz Raja must know the value of a cricketer is whether he is part of an international team or not. We can see in National T20 Cup too, the ones who have scored 5000 runs are in the second XI. Can't he ask Nadeem Khan, Mohammad Wasim and selectors what they have done to the domestic sides? If players can't make their way into the national side, should they also not play domestic?”
Earlier, Kamran Akmal had raised many eyebrows by claiming that he had advised Babar Azam against taking the captaincy of the Pakistani side.
“During a T20I in Faisalabad when Babar was walking out for the toss, I got to know that he is being made captain. That is when I told him… ‘I don't think now is the right time for you to become captain. Give your best performances in the next 2-3 years. The batting line-up is depended on you. Reach Virat Kohli's level first, Steve Smith's level. By then, you would have scored 35-40 centuries and enjoy captaincy. The moment Sarfaraz leaves, you will be next in line. But now is the right time. I told him back in the day but it was his decision. Those who were close to him, must have spoken to him and advised him to take up captaincy,” Kamran Akmal said on his YouTube channel.
“I had also told him to only concentrate on his batting. He was scoring runs and would have continued to do so. The flow was beautiful. People enjoyed watching him bat. With captaincy, there will be pressure, which will affect his batting, his approach. And somewhere, that is visible now. But at the same time removing him as captain right now would be a big blunder on the part of the team management. Pakistan cricket will go back,” Kamran Akmal explained.
Kamran Akmal, however, said that now he feels Babar Azam has matured as a cricketer and is handling the pressure of being the captain of the side wonderfully well.
Moreover, as a batsman, Babar Azam is taking the added responsibility of being the skipper and is leading from the front.
“But now he has matured. It's been 2-3 years since he has been captaining, but it still should have been better. The way he captained in the final of the Asia Cup final, he has done better than that in the past. He has utilized his bowlers – like Nawaz – really well. But when you don't have form, you can make a few changes at the top. Perhaps push Rizwan down to 3, bat there yourself. Make Fakhar open, maybe he can come back to form. So there are the decisions a captain should take,” he concluded.
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