Former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal has spoken about Abrar Ahmed being dropped from the squad for the first Test against the Bangladesh national cricket team. He said that if the wrist spinner is not playing, what is the point of having him with the team for the last few months?
Ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh national cricket team, Pakistan national cricket team made a major announcement. The Shan Masood-led team released wrist spinner Abrar Ahmed from the squad and included him in the Pakistan Shaheens squad for the four-day game against Bangladesh A.
In an official statement, the Pakistan Cricket Board said that a full-speed attack will be used in the first match. This is because the pitch for the first Test between Pakistan National Cricket Team and Bangladesh National Cricket Team will be a green track as the administration has asked the groundsmen to prepare the grass pitch.
With all the pace attack that has been given in the first Test, Pakistan made sure that Abrar Ahmed was not left on the bench and hence they added him to the Pakistan Shaheens squad. They wanted a wrist bowler to get some game time ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh which will now be held in Rawalpindi.
Kamran Akmal was not surprised by Pakistan’s decision to release Abrar Ahmed from the team. He pointed out that it is not good that he is the only bowler and cannot play. He stressed that if the wrist spinner cannot play in such situations, where will he play? In a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:
“I think the mentality I see in the first Test. Like you released Abrar Ahmed, you have announced only one spinner in the team. And you can bowl whatever you want but you bowl with your spinners. It’s a different thing, Salman Ali will come, he’s a part-time player but he can’t have the impact that Abrar Ahmed can have.
“The second thing is that you have kept Abrar Ahmed with the team for eight or ten months. Now he is not going to play. If he does not want to play on those pitches, where is he going to play?”
You can never develop bowlers this way – Kamran Akmal on Abrar Ahmed not playing the first Test against Bangladesh
Kamran Akmal also suggested a batting order for the Pakistan National Cricket Team and highlighted that even if they had 4 fast bowlers, they could have played Abrar Ahmed. He stressed that the team is not allowing the bowlers to settle and if the bowler does not play against Bangladesh, when will he play? He explained:
“The batting order I see. If you have to play with 4 fast bowlers, you can also play with one spin bowler. Shan opens with Abdullah Shafiq. Then at No. 3, you know, Saud Shakeel or Babar will come, then Salman Ali will come at No. 7 and you will bowl. If Aamir Jamal plays, then I think Pakistan team should do this. And on those pitches, if you have to do your spin bowler. Like in the past, we saw that our spin bowlers used to get the batsmen out no matter what kind of pitch it was.
“You have to create such kind of bowlers. Or you want to create bowlers who will play only on curved tracks, then Abrar Ahmed will play. You can never develop your bowlers this way. You know your bowlers have been taking hits for 2-3 years. Your bowlers are not settling down. If your bowlers are not playing against these teams, then which team will they play against? I don’t understand it,” he concluded.
