Kamran Akmal wants Babar Azam to consider Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz for T20 World Cup
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal wants captain Babar Azam to consider Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz for the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in India later this year.
In December last year, Amir announced his sudden retirement from international cricket at the age of 28, alleging mental torture by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management. Veteran left-arm pacer Riaz, on the other hand, last represented Pakistan in the T20I series in New Zealand in December 2020.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, Kamran Akmal opined that both Amir and Riaz have a few years of cricket left in them. He said:
"The situation will be clear after the tour of England. Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz should be included in the side. Amir has four to five years of cricket left in him, while Riaz can play for another two or three years. Experience is very important. Pakistan needs mature bowlers bearing in mind the flat nature of pitches in India."
Kamran Akmal added that Azam must learn from former skippers and improve his selection policy. The former wicketkeeper-batsman elaborated:
"Babar Azam is improving as a captain with passing time. Although, he need to bring improvement in his selection policy. Inzi [Inzamamul Haq] and Younis [Khan] bhai were very strict in this matter. They valued domestic experience over short-cut selections. Babar needs to understand that this will affect team performance in the future."
According to Kamran Akmal, too many youngsters are being given a chance to play for Pakistan too soon. The 39-year-old feels that domestic experience is not being given proper consideration. He explained:
"Players need to be selected based on domestic experience. Look at the examples of Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Fawad Alam and Imamul Haq, they have all been selected on consistent domestic performance which is now being translated into international cricket. I don't know why the selectors are in a hurry to give young players chances. Maybe they think these players will leave Pakistan if not selected.”
Pakistan will know where they stand when they come up against India, England: Kamran Akmal
Pakistan are currently touring Zimbabwe and are on the verge of clinching the two-match Test series 2-0. Earlier, they also claimed the three-match T20I series 2-1.
Kamran Akmal claimed that Pakistan are playing too many matches against weak opponents and hence struggle when they come up against bigger teams. He stated:
"Luckily, the teams Pakistan has played against in the past seven or eight months have lacked their top players but I'm sure the coach, selectors and Babar knows where their team stands when they will come up against the likes of India, England and Australia. I don't think they want to admit this but things will become clear going forward."
Kamran Akmal represented Pakistan in 53 Tests, 157 ODIs and 58 T20Is from 2002 to 2017.