Kamran Akmal questions the parameters for selection in the Pakistan team

When the selection committee headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq announced the Pakistan squad for the World Cup 2019, Kamran Akmal’s name didn’t feature and for obvious reasons. However, the 37-year-old has now come out and is making claims of foul play and that performance or merit is not the real parameter for selection. The eldest of the Akmal siblings believe that the players are picked based on who the selectors like and dislike, personally.

Akmal, who last played an international game in April 2017, insisted that this state of affairs with regards to the selection has persisted for the past five or six years. He claimed that the selection processes is twisted according to personal choices. The Pakistan team will begin their World Cup campaign against Windies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on May 31. They are currently in England playing the hosts in a five-match ODI series and have already lost by a 3-0 margin.

They have shown courage and a lot of steel with the bat which has upped the hopes of fans and many believe Pakistan will do well in th World Cup. But Kamran Akmal feels differently. “If the team is selected on liking and disliking, then it will be a loss for the team, and that is what [has been] happening for the past five, six years. Apart from winning the ICC Champions Trophy, what has Pakistan won?” he said,” the wicketkeeper-batsman was quoted as saying by Business Recorder. 

Earlier Kamran had also criticized the exclusion of fast bowler Mohammad Amir, despite his dismal form in ODIs. Since the conclusion of the Champions Trophy in June 2017, in which Pakistan lifted the title, Amir has only managed five wickets in 14 matches at an average of 92.60. However, in the latest update, Amir has been incorporated into the 15-man squad for the tournament.

Selections are made on T20 performance and not domestic cricket

He further criticized the nature of selections made by the PCB which he feels is unfair since they’re picking the national team based on players’ performances in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and not the domestic tournaments. “If they want to select [the] team from T20s, the PCB should shut down domestic cricket. Players are playing [at the] World Cup on the basis of one or two good spells in T20 [cricket],” Kamran Akmal concluded.

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