Pakistan cricket team has been eliminated from the ongoing T20 World Cup in the group stage itself. This was decided after the Group A match between co-hosts USA and Ireland in Florida was washed out on Friday (June 14).
Following the first-round exit, the Men in Green players are drawing flak from all quarters. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has also come down heavily on Babar Azam and his troops.
Amid the scrutiny, former wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal rued the unproductive utilization of Umar Akmal by the Pakistan team management over the years, claiming that his younger brother has superior stats than Indian legend Virat Kohli in the T20 World Cup.
Speaking on ARY News, Kamran suggested that had Umar been backed, he could have done things like Kohli has done for his country despite not being even close to the Indian legend’s stature.
"Mujhe stats kal aaye hain. Mein baat kar raha hu Umar ki (I have received the stats yesterday, I am talking about Umar). World Cup matches in T20s, Umar and Virat Kohli's. Umar is like Virat Kohli's little finger, (compared to) the performance and stature of Virat Kohli, the kind of player he is. (But Umar has) Better strike rate than Virat Kohli, runs as well (in T20 World Cups)," Kamran stated.
He also added that unlike the current Pakistan players, Umar Akmal does not have PR companies to share his stats and performances on social media.
"Hamari koi PR company nahi hai. We don't spread our stats on social media. If these stats (of Umar) were part of these 15 players (Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad), is waqt tak tabahi aa jani thi (it would have created mayhem)," he remarked, and went on to highlight Kohli's 80 centuries in international cricket.
Pakistan, the runners-up of the 2022 edition of T20 World Cup, couldn’t live up to the expectations in the T20 World Cup 2024. They suffered a shocking Super Over defeat at the hands of USA in their campaign opener, followed by a narrow six-run loss against arch-rivals India.
While Babar Azam’s team bounced back to defeat Canada by seven wickets, the no-result in the USA versus Ireland match pushed the 2009 champions out of the competition.
Pakistan will take on Ireland in a dead-rubber group-stage fixture in Florida on Sunday (June 16).
