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Sunday December 22, 2024

Kamran Akmal asks PCB heavyweights to stop rotating captains

Ex-cricketer says no use of changing skippers when they have to play with same players in same system

By Sohail Imran
September 13, 2024
Former Pakistan batsman Kamran Akmal speaking on September 4, 2024. —Screengrab/ Facebook/ @kakmal23
Former Pakistan batsman Kamran Akmal speaking on September 4, 2024. —Screengrab/ Facebook/ @kakmal23

Advising the players to learn the fundamentals of the game correctly, former right-handed batsman Kamran Akmal on Friday also urged the people running the Pakistan cricket to stop rotating captains.

In an interview with Geo News, Akmal questioned why they always wanted a new skipper, whenever new heavyweights assumed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) office.

"Is it because the captain is not their favourite and they want one of their choice? Do you suppose the new captain will bring Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith or Mitchell Starc in the team to boost its performance?" he asked, ranting over the endless discourse of finding someone suitable to step into the boots of current captains.

His remarks came after the Men in Green’s back to back debacles in the world of cricket, including the fresh one — a home ground Test series whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh.

The ex-cricketer said when they had to play with the same players in the same system, there's no use of changing the leadership then.

"Everyone including the captain, coach and selectors should set their direction right and reform their thinking," he suggested.

He asserted that by not changing the skipper, but changing the thinking would do good to the Green Shirts. "Why they wanted to bring a change now, if they did not do that after losing the Asia Cup, ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup," he questioned.

Endorsing Babar Azam for the captaincy role, Akmal said let the 29-year-old continue till Champions Trophy. "What difference does it make [by the way],” he stated.

The veteran player said they should revert to the fundamentals of 20-30 years ago, stressing at what happened in the domestic and club cricket.

"If they do not get their basics right then such blunders will continue to happen and replacing captains will make no difference,” he maintained.