Former player and national selector Kamran Akmal has slammed the past and present national team management, including the captains, for showing a lack of faith in spinners while playing Test series at home.
Akmal said spinners in the country have been systematically sidelined and not given proper chances to show their worth in the last three years, in the wake of Pakistan’s 0-2 defeat against Bangladesh at home.
“There is no way we will win a home series without a spinner taking wickets. My observation is that in the last three-four years, the management and captains have not shown patience to develop the spinners,” he told PTI.
Akmal said there were no reasons for sidelining experienced spinners such as Yasir Shah, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Bilal Asif, Zahid Mahmood or Usman Qadir.
“When Babar (Azam) was captain, he kept some spinners in the squad but never bothered to play them regularly. Unless spinners get constant exposure, how will they come through?” he said.
Akmal pointed out that Pakistan has won matches at home with a combination of both pace and spin in the past.
“Even when we were forced to play in UAE, we won Tests mainly because of our spinners,” he said.
“We don’t have pacers who are as strong as those we had in the past and yet we are expecting them to win us the series. The recent series against Bangladesh is an example. Where is Yasir Shah? Isn’t he still active in First-Class cricket? Where has Noman Ali gone? Didn’t he take wickets? Did he get punished? He had appendicitis in Australia, got operated on, and was then sidelined. What was Usman Qadir’s fault? What was Sajid Khan’s fault? What was Bilal Asif’s fault? All of them have taken five-wicket hauls and yet are out of the team,” he said.
Akmal said Pakistan’s batters’ ‘legs start to give way’ against pacers.
“Our batters are comfortable against pacers bowling at 130-140 kmph, but when they face a pace of 140 kmph or more, and they see that on the scoreboard during the match, their legs start to give way,” he said.
“See how we struggled against Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed, who bowl 140 kmph-plus. Look at the way our main batters were dismissed,” he said.
Akmal said players need to prioritise domestic cricket and not focus only on overseas leagues.
“They prefer to go and play in useless foreign leagues to earn money and this is not helping them develop their skills. This lack of commitment towards domestic cricket is leading to inconsistent performances at the international level.”
Akmal said there was nothing wrong with players wanting to earn money from foreign leagues.
“But I think, as a professional, you have to balance your schedule and ensure that while you earn money, you also improve yourself as a player for your country,” he added.
Akmal said Babar is struggling for form due to some technical flaws.
“He is unsure of himself and his off-stump early on and has this tendency to leave his leg-stump exposed. Balls that should be played towards cover are being played straight, and the bat doesn’t go towards the ball’s direction,” he said.
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