Pakistan's tainted wicketkeeper-batter Umar Akmal has reacted to skipper Babar Azam’s claims where he says that one of his cousins refused to lend him a pair of shoes during the start of his cricketing career. Akmal said that he has no idea which one of Babar’s cousins refused to lend him a pair of shoes. He also added that their families always backed the children and their quest to pursue cricket as a career.
“I have no idea which of our cousins refused to give shoes to Babar. We’ve always offered support to relatives who wanted to play cricket. I’ve never turned down a request. People who are close to me are well aware of this,” Akmal said in an interview.
Recalling his struggles at the dawn of his career, Babar now believes that he should not have asked for the shoes in the first place.
“I asked my cousin if he could lend me a pair of joggers, but he refused, claiming that he didn’t have any. I realised I had said something I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have asked for the shoes in the first place,” the Pakistani skipper claimed during an interview a few weeks back.
Babar made his international debut in May 2015 against Zimbabwe in an ODI series. A year later, he made his first appearance in Test and the T20I format. Since then, Babar has been a key cog in Pakistan's cricketing fraternity, scoring plenty of runs for his country.
Recently, the 27-year-old batting star has been in fine form, winning the Player of the Series against the visiting Australian team. He scored 390 runs in the Test series against Australia, including a record-breaking 196 in the second Test to salvage a draw. This was followed by some splendid batting in the ODI series, scoring consecutive tons and helping Pakistan secure the trophy with a 2-1 margin.
