Thaindian News

Karachi, Nov 30 (IANS) Pakistan’s discarded wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal is desperate to return to international cricket and is even willing to play for the national team as a specialist batsman.

Kamran, who has been overlooked for national duty since after the controversy-filled tour of England, is keen to join the touring squad for the series against New Zealand starting late next month and more importantly wants to be in Pakistan’s squad for next year’s World Cup.

“I’ve never compromised on my determination and hard work to be Pakistan’s number one wicketkeeper-batsman and that will always be the case,” Akram, former Pakistan vice-captain, told pakpassion.net.

“I am more determined than ever to reclaim my place in the Pakistan side and whether that is as a keeper-batsman or purely as a batsman that is down to the selectors and team management. I am comfortable if the selectors and management want me to play purely as a batsman.”

Kamran underwent a minor appendix operation and though he was fit, selector ignored him for the series against South Africa in the UAE.

The Lahore-based player then switched his focus to domestic cricket and has impressed during a successful stint with National Bank. In recent days, he has posted scores of 78, 60, 268 and 103 for an aggregate of 530 runs at an average of 75.71 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

“Being dropped is not an easy thing to take, but I took it on the chin and decided that I would use my dropping from the team as a motivational tool,” he said.

“I’ve addressed some of the basics, especially those things that went wrong for me in England. I’ve watched a lot of the videos and we’ve analysed some of the errors. I’ve been working hard with the National Bank coaches, including Mohammad Jamil, who has been very helpful. Ijaz Ahmed and Waqar Younis have also been of great help with words of advice and guidance. It’s just as frustrating for me as it is for the fans and teammates when I make a mistake.”

Kamran also hopes to get mentally tough.

“At this level of the game, it’s the mental side of the game that quite often causes mistakes or a loss of form. I need to be mentally tougher and to address this aspect of my game.”