Daily Times

ABU DHABI: Kamran Akmal believes that his younger brother Umar Akmal’s best cricketing years are ahead of him.

“I would like to say that Umar has good fitness now. The selectors, including Inzamam-ul-Haq recently tested him for fitness and he was fine and passed the test. My only advice to him or anyone for that matter is that you need to work hard to maintain your fitness. This is the demand of the professional game. In Umar’s case, he has always been very fit but unfortunately, he did not pass the test for the squad for the West Indies tour. But since that time, he has worked hard and cleared fitness tests quite easily. He needs to stay fit for his own sake and also for the future of Pakistan cricket”, Kamran said in an interview on Sunday.

Kamran at thirty-five years of age recently made an international comeback for Pakistan after almost three years.

His comeback was on the back of some superb domestic performances and a successful Pakistan Super League campaign for the title winners Peshawar Zalmi.

On the tour of the West Indies, Kamran Akmal played all of the T20I and ODI games, scoring 90 runs in four T20Is and 68 runs in the ODI series.

Kamran Akmal also spoke about the experience of making a comeback for Pakistan after a three year period, the irrelevance of age when judging suitability for selection for the Pakistan team, fitness issues surrounding Umar Akmal and looked forward to a spot in Pakistan’s ODI squad bound for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England.