Mickey Arthur, a former Pakistan coach, says that Kamran Akmal failed 2 fitness tests.

Key points:

1.  The war of words on both sides has been going on for the past year.
2. Arthur was also blamed for the mess that Pakistan’s cricket is currently in.
3. The captain was Sarfraz Ahmed. He wouldn’t have been the wicket-keeper.
4. I don’t think he had the correct messages earlier in his career because if he had, he wouldn’t have gone down the road he chose.

To say the least, the Akmal brothers as well as former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur had a frosty relationship. The war of words on both sides has been going on for the past year.

Arthur left Umar Akmal as well as Kamran Akmal out of the squad during his tenure as Pakistan’s head coach due to a number of problems. The absence of fitness was one of the key variables behind their exclusion.

Priority to fitness and not giving young talents:

In his tenure with the national team, Kamran did not take kindly to the criticism and lashed out at Arthur for giving too much priority to fitness and not giving young talents their due. 

Arthur was also blamed for the mess that Pakistan’s cricket is currently in.Now, Arthur has replied to Kamran’s allegations that the wicket-keeper batsman has missed two fitness tests and does not pay attention to anything he says.

Arthur said to Cricbuzz:

‘Just look at the Kamran Akmal thing that happened. Kamran Akmal is a player from the Comfort Zone. He did not pitch. The captain was Sarfraz Ahmed. He wouldn’t have been the wicket-keeper.

We took him on a tour of the West Indies and at best, he was average. Kamran Akmal missed two tests for fitness. So to be frank, I don’t listen to anything that the Akmals say at all. “I just take anything they say with a pinch of salt,” Arthur told Cricbuzz.

Arthur was not a big fan of Umar younger brother of Kamran, either. Arthur opened up about his partnership with Umar Akmal and said that at the start of his career, the cricketer needed a guiding hand.

Arthur to Pinch Hitter magazine:

For him [Umar Akmal] now it’s probably too late. “It’s sad because he’s a kind enough bloke, but at the start of his career, what he required was a real firm hand to guide himself properly,” Arthur said Pinch Hitter magazine.

I don’t think he had the correct messages earlier in his career because if he had, he wouldn’t have gone down the road he chose. Acting with him was stressful.