Pakistani batsman Umar Akmal has accused Waqar Younis of threatening to end his career, adding that the incident occurred when the veteran speedster was coach of the national team.
While talking to a presenter in an interview at a Pakistan Cup match, Akmal said the former Pakistan head coach had warned him that he “will see who lets him play cricket in the future”. The warning came after Akmal refused to be the wicket-keeper during a Test match in Dubai.
In fact, the presenter had asked why Akmal was behind the stumps when he had himself refused to keep wickets in Tests while playing for Pakistan. “Why are you being made to keep wickets in the presence of Muhammad Hassan?” the presenter asked.
Akmal replied that he kept wickets for three years in one-dayers and T20s, adding that he had only refused to be the wicket-keeper in the Test format.
“I pleaded before him, asking not drop me as I am honest with Pakistan,” he added.
On the other hand, the legend pacer is yet to respond on the issue.
In the past, Umar Akmal has often been mentioned in various controversies. Last year, Akmal claimed that coach Mickey Arthur had verbally abused him in front of Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, adding that Arthur is also abusive towards players.
Akmal also said that senior players did not stop the coach when he was being verbally abused and added that the coach had told him to play club-level cricket instead of coming to the academy. Akmal further claimed that he was dropped from the team after an unjustified warning.
A month later, Akmal regretted the media outburst against Arthur.