KARACHI (Monitoring Desk): Islamabad United coach Waqar Younis said on Saturday that Peshawar Zalmi opener Kamran Akmal can be included in the national team as a backup of skipper Sarfraz Ahmed but due to his questionable fielding skills, he probably won’t make it to the national side.
Akmal is the lone centurion of this PSL season, and was also the only century-maker in PSL 2017. After a topsy-turvy start to this season, the last few matches saw him smash 107* off 61 balls and the fastest half-century in the league’s history, raising the possibility of his return in the national squad against upcoming West Indies series.
Akmal played for Pakistan in the series against West Indies in April 2017, making a return to the national squad after becoming the top run-scorer in the last PSL tournament. But he has not been part of the national squad since then. Speaking in a press conference ahead of the tournament’s final on Sunday, the former national coach said that as many as 30 years back he made his international debut at the National Stadium.
“I am glad to be back here. And it will be great to see international players playing again in the National Stadium. Karachi is a cricket loving city. I am already getting goosebumps. With the weather suitable for playing conditions, I predict that it will be a high-scoring match,” he said.
Responding to a question, the coach said that if Kamran Akmal is in ‘red-hot form’ so is United’s opener Luke Ronchi. Younis added that his team’s players are ‘hungry and looking forward to delivering tomorrow’. United skipper JP Duminy said that the team will try to dismiss Akmal at the early stage of the game. The South African player reiterated that the entire team is excited to play Pakistan Super League final in Karachi. “We are about to start our training session. The team that adapts quickest will give itself an edge,” Duminy said.
Younis informed the press that the team will look at the medical examination reports of Misbahul Haq but it more likely that would miss the final because of the wrist injury.
The former fast bowler called United’s batsmen, Asif Ali and Hussain Talat, as ‘talented kids’, and said that it will be a great achievement for them and Pakistan, to have them included in the national team.
