'Hurt and heartbroken for not being considered for Pakistan'- Kamran Akmal after T20I snub

The No.1 ranked T20I team in the world- Pakistan- endured a horrendous 2019. The team that started the year as the top-ranked team in the shortest format of the game could manage just a solitary win throughout the past 12 months. The year started with the Men in Green losing to South Africa 1-2, post which Sarfaraz’s men lost the one-off T20I during their tour of England, and then came the ultimate humiliation.

The much-revered No.1 ranked side in the world was humiliated by a second-string Sri Lankan side 0-3 on their home turf back in September. As a result of the crushing defeat, Sarfaraz Ahmed was not only dumped from the leadership role but also from the squad. Babar Azam was made the captain of the T20I side but things only got worse as the Green shirts were hammered 0-2 by the Aaron Finch-led Aussies during their tour Down Under.

So, after having suffered nine defeats in the past ten T20Is, Pakistan made a wholesale change to their T20I set-up for the upcoming series with the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir, Imam Ul Haq, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Irfan and Asif Ali getting dumped from the set-up.

Kamran Akmal posts a heartfelt tweet post the T20I snub

But, what came as surprise was that Mohammad Rizwan regained his place in the set-up after an underwhelming series against Australia. In the past few months, calls within Pakistan for the inclusion of former wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal. Akmal has been doing pretty well in domestic cricket for some time now, but that did not turn out to be the case as Pakistan continued to go with Rizwan.

“Hurt by the snub, Kamran Akmal took to Twitter where he wrote, “Hurt&heart broken for not being considered 4 team. i have really worked hard ..anyways i won’t give up i will work harder & would like to thank everyone who supported me jazak Allah thank you” Akmal tweeted.

Hurt&heart broken for not being considered 4 team 🇵🇰 i have really worked hard ..anyways i won’t give up i will work harder & would like to thank everyone who supported me jazak Allah thank you

— Kamran Akmal (@KamiAkmal23) January 16, 2020

Meanwhile, former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was also not considered for the T20I series against Bangladesh. However, Head coach + chief selector Misbah Ul Haq said that the former captain can force his way into contention if he has a good outing in the upcoming PSL.