Veteran Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter, Kamran Akmal, credited India’s domestic system for having such a large talent pool of players that they are now fielding two teams at a time in limited-overs cricket.
His comments came after T20 World Cup 2022-bound Indian players left for Australia on October 6, while another Indian squad is taking on South Africa in a three-match ODI series at home.
For the past year, India has been playing with the two squads on many occasions, for which Akmal lauded the BCCI for building up a strong structure in domestic cricket. He further said that India has players ready for Test cricket as well, given the great pool of players available at the moment.
Kamran Akmal said on his YouTube channel: “It’s a great sign for India that they have two teams ready. One team is playing the ODI series against South Africa, and the other has reached Australia for the T20 World Cup. It’s not just white-ball cricket, they have players ready for Test cricket as well. They have a very sound policy, and we must give credit to their domestic system. It is surprising to see how big a talent pool they have managed to create.”
Speaking on South Africa’s 9-run win over India in the first ODI, the Pakistani cricketer said: “South Africa won the game by nine runs. They survived the tough phases as the conditions were difficult because of the rain. They were able to do that because they have their full-strength side and all their main players are playing in the series.”
However, Akmal feels India could have won the first ODI if the senior players were part of the squad, but said that the second-string team fought really hard against a full-strength South African side.
He signed off by saying, “While they were up against a second-string Indian team, they had to work very hard for the win, just like they would have had to against India’s main team. If India’s main players were there, they would have chased down this target.”
