Umar Akmal has time and again split opinion right down the middle in Pakistan with his inconsistent performances over the years. Dubbed as the next big thing to come out of Pakistan cricket, the right-handed batsman has failed to live up to his billing and realise his potential. On July 12, Umar Akmal’s career suffered another major setback after he was omitted from Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) list of players that received national contracts. The Pakistan batsman has been spending time in England, working hard on his fitness. The 27-year-old posted a picture on micro-blogging site Twitter, standing next to a Bentley, however, the post didn’t get the positive reaction he would have hoped for.
Akmal, who has played has played in 16 Tests, 116 ODIs and 82 T20Is, failed to find a place in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy squad.
He has been sharing videos of him training hard and on July 13 posted a picture standing next to a silver Bentley with the caption: “Enjoying London after hard work”.
Twitterati didn’t take too kindly to the post and instead trolled Umar Akmal for not getting a national contract and his fitness issues.
Umar Akmal even tweeted on his post asking fans not to make negative comments, but that had no effect as fans continued to unleash their wrath on the Pakistani cricketer.
Umar Akmal was the highest-profile casualty in the new contract list for Pakistan that has seen several retirements in the past 12 months, including of legendary veterans Younis Khan and captain Misbah-ul-Haq.
Pakistan splits their central contracts into four categories, with the A group the elite, and most well-paid, players.