Pakistan’s defeat in Group A of the T20 World Cup against Ireland in Florida on Thursday saw them crash out of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the first stage. The 2009 champions’ disappointing exit infuriated the nation and led to scathing criticism of Babar Azam’s team. Amidst all this, former wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal’s hypothesis, centred around Indian batting legend Virat Kohli, is intriguing as well as an acknowledgement of Pakistan’s past mistakes.
Speaking on Pakistani television, Kamran suggested that if his brother Umar Akmal had been given the support and promotion he could have achieved what he has done for India despite being nowhere near the talent that Kohli possesses.
“I received the statistics yesterday. I am talking about Umar. The T20 World Cup matches are between Umar and Virat Kohli. Compared to Virat Kohli’s performance and fame, Umar is like Virat Kohli’s little finger, that’s the kind of player he is. (But Umar) has a higher run rate than Virat Kohli and has also scored better runs (in the T20 World Cup),” Kamran said in a video clip circulating on microblogging platform ‘X’.
“There is no PR firm involved. We don’t spread stats on social media. If this stat of Umar had been part of the 15 players (in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad), it would have created a huge uproar,” the former stumper added.
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Pakistan was desperate for the USA-Ireland match to continue, needing Ireland to beat the USA to qualify for the “Super 8” from Group A. But the lack of a result gave the US the one point they needed to knock Pakistan out of the World Cup.
Even if Pakistan beats the Netherlands on Sunday, they will likely pick up just four points compared to the five points garnered by the United States in their tournament debut. Interestingly, Pakistan’s embarrassing early exit was due to their opening match defeat to the United States.
Having made history, the U.S. team will advance to the next stage along with India, who top the group with an unbeaten record from three matches.
Speaking on Pakistani television, Kamran suggested that if his brother Umar Akmal had been given the support and promotion he could have achieved what he has done for India despite being nowhere near the talent that Kohli possesses.
“I received the statistics yesterday. I am talking about Umar. The T20 World Cup matches are between Umar and Virat Kohli. Compared to Virat Kohli’s performance and fame, Umar is like Virat Kohli’s little finger, that’s the kind of player he is. (But Umar) has a higher run rate than Virat Kohli and has also scored better runs (in the T20 World Cup),” Kamran said in a video clip circulating on microblogging platform ‘X’.
“There is no PR firm involved. We don’t spread stats on social media. If this stat of Umar had been part of the 15 players (in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad), it would have created a huge uproar,” the former stumper added.
Watch the video
Pakistan was desperate for the USA-Ireland match to continue, needing Ireland to beat the USA to qualify for the “Super 8” from Group A. But the lack of a result gave the US the one point they needed to knock Pakistan out of the World Cup.
Even if Pakistan beats the Netherlands on Sunday, they will likely pick up just four points compared to the five points garnered by the United States in their tournament debut. Interestingly, Pakistan’s embarrassing early exit was due to their opening match defeat to the United States.
Having made history, the U.S. team will advance to the next stage along with India, who top the group with an unbeaten record from three matches.
