Umar Akmal, the aggressive Pakistani batter, is away from competitive cricket and his career took a hit when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) banned him on the back of a spot-fixing scandal that put the 32-year-old in the mud. The right-handed batter, at present, is aiming at a possible comeback and one could understand that in all likelihood, his career is more or less over.
During an interaction with Pakistani journalist Hafiz Muhammad Imran, the veteran opened up about the Indian crowd and said that they make him feel at home. Further, Akmal added that the Indian crowd respect the Pakistani team a lot and cheers for them too. The two teams stopped playing bilateral series a decade ago because of the continued political rift between them.
The 32-year-old said that he has not played a big series in his home country yet and was happy to acknowledge the Indian crowd for the respect that they show towards other countries. Akmal did not shy away from admitting to the generosity of the Indian fans and thanked them for making him feel at home, despite being a cricketer from a rival country.
I haven’t played a big series in Pakistan: Umar Akmal
Akmal recently took to Twitter to thank the PCB chief Najam Sethi and the team for allowing him to hit the nets at the National Cricket Academy in Pakistan. One could understand that the batter is giving it his all to don the green jersey once again, given the current pool of young players, it would be near to impossible for Akmal to break through.
“I like playing in India and in Asia. I haven’t played a big series in Pakistan till date and only played in two T20Is in that also I got out for 0. Whenever I have played in India, I feel as if I’m playing in my own country. The crowd in India respects both teams; Indian fans love Pakistani players and cheer for them too,” Akmal was quoted as saying to the Pakistani journalist Imran.
