Kamran Akmal failed two fitness tests, says Mickey Arthur

It is no secret that former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur shared a sour relationship with the Akmal brothers. Time and again both sides have thrown a barrage of words directed towards each other and it doesn’t seem to stop. During his tenure as the Pakistan coach, Arthur used to leave out the Akmal brothers quite regularly and one of the primary reasons behind their exclusion was their lack of fitness.

Given the current trend and pace at which cricket is played, fitness is of utmost importance. However, Kamran Akmal earlier had said that Arthur gave too much importance to fitness and never gave genuine talents their due during his time with the Pakistan national team. In fact, Kamran went a step ahead and blamed Arthur for the mess Pakistan currently is in.

Replying to the allegations Arthur has spoken out once again and has claimed that Kamran failed two fitness tests and he doesn’t really take his words seriously.

"Just look at what happened to Kamran Akmal. Kamran Akmal is a comfort zone player. He couldn’t field. Sarfraz Ahmed was captain. He wasn’t going to be the wicket-keeper. We took him on a West Indies tour and he was average at best. Kamran Akmal failed two fitness tests. So to be honest, anything that the Akmals say, I don’t listen to at all. Anything they say, I just take with a pinch of salt," Arthur was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, it must also be noted that Arthur didn’t take a liking to Kamran’s younger brother Umar either. Arthur feels that Umar needed a helping hand at the start of his career which could have helped him take giant strides in international cricket. There was never a question mark surrounding the talent Umar had but the consistency was always the issue.

"It’s definitely too late for him [Umar Akmal] now. It’s sad because he is a likeable enough bloke but what he needed was a real firm hand at the start of his career to guide him properly,” Arthur was quoted as saying by the Pinch Hitter Magazine.

“I don’t think he got the right messages earlier in his career because if he had, he wouldn’t have gone down the route he has chosen to. He was frustrating to work with,” Arthur further added.

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