Pakistan's T20 World Cup Exit Sparks Criticism, Kamran Akmal Blames Past Mistakes

The T20 World Cup 2024 has witnessed a shocking turn of events, with Pakistan being eliminated in the first stage after the washout of the Group A match between USA and Ireland. This disappointing exit has sparked widespread criticism and scrutiny of Babar Azam's team.

Amidst the backlash, former wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has made a bold statement, suggesting that Pakistan's past mistakes have cost them dearly. Speaking on a TV show, Akmal claimed that if his brother, Umar Akmal, had received the same support and promotion as India's batting legend Virat Kohli, he could have achieved similar success despite not possessing Kohli's exceptional talent.

Akmal presented statistics comparing Umar Akmal's performance in T20 World Cups to that of Kohli. He highlighted that Umar Akmal had a better strike rate and had scored more runs than Kohli in the tournament. Akmal attributed this to Pakistan's lack of a strong PR strategy to promote their players' achievements.

"If these stats (of Umar) were part of these 15 players (Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad), is waqt tak tabahi aa jani thi (it would have created mayhem)," Akmal said.

Pakistan's elimination from the tournament was a bitter pill to swallow, as they desperately needed the USA vs Ireland match to go ahead and for Ireland to beat USA to qualify for the 'Super 8s' from Group A. However, the no-result gave USA the one point they needed to push Pakistan out of the competition.

Even if Pakistan manages to defeat Netherlands on Sunday, they will only end up on four points compared to tournament debutant USA's five. The upset defeat against USA in their first match proved to be the catalyst for Pakistan's embarrassing early exit.

The history-making US team has advanced to the next stage along with group toppers India, who remain unbeaten after three matches.

Tags: #T20WorldCup, #PakistanCricket, #UmarAkmal, #ViratKohli, #KamranAkmal