Umar Akmal Takes Off Shirt and Asks Trainers ‘Batayein Charbee Kahan Hai’ After Failing Fitness Test
Umar Akmal, 29, made his international debut in 2009 and was termed one of the most talented batsmen in the Pakistan team. He smashed a century on his Test debut against New Zealand and a half-century in the second innings. Against Sri Lanka in his debut ODI series, Akmal scored a fifty in his second ODI match and followed it with another hundred in the third ODI.
Frustrated at not passing the fitness test for selection into the Pakistan national cricket team, Umar Akmal was reported to have taken off his shirt and confronted the trainers asking them "Btayein Charbee Kahan hai?” Akmal, who scored two ducks in his last two appearances for Pakistan, last played for the national team in October 2019 and has since then not been called up to the national team with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) preferring veterans such as Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in his place. Waiting for Team India to Travel to Pakistan for a Bilateral Series: Shahid Afridi on Indo-Pak Cricketing Ties.
Akmal, 29, made his international debut in 2009 and was termed one of the most talented batsmen in the Pakistan team. He smashed a century on his Test debut against New Zealand and a half-century in the second innings. Against Sri Lanka in his debut ODI series, Akmal scored a fifty in his second ODI match and followed it with another hundred in the third ODI. He played as the wicket-keeper batsman and was a main-stay in the Pakistan team until 2015-16 when the board picked Sarfaraz Ahmed ahead following repeated failures with the bat and Akmal’s deteriorating relationship with the head coach.
Initially dropped as the team’s first-choice wicket-keeper, Akmal played as a specialist batsman before the rise of Babar Azam saw him lose his place. Since then, the once talented cricketer has turned out in domestic cricket as he aims to fight for his place in the national team. Akmal, 29, has been playing for Central Punjab in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy and has scored successive hundred, including a double century in his last two innings. As a result, the PCB decided to call him up for a fitness test.
Umar Akmal Asks Trainers Charbee Kahan Hain?
But unfortunately, like it has been before, Akmal failed to collect the required points needed to pass the fitness test and was thwarted back. Unhappy with the result, the younger of the Akmal brothers then took off his shirt and asked the trainers – conducting the tests – to show any signs of fats in his body. The trainers are said to have reported the matter to the national cricket board, who have reportedly asked for a proper explanation from the cricketer.
Akmal has so far represented Pakistan in 16 Test matches, 121 ODI matches and 84 Twenty20 International matches. He has scored 1003, 3194 and 1690 runs respectively with three international hundreds and 34 half-centuries.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2020 04:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).