New Delhi: The verbal ding-dong between Umar Akmal and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues with the Pakistani batsman taking to Twitter to take on the board and the coach Mickey Arthur.
In tweets written in Urdu, Akmal said, that the fitness tests done before the Champions Trophy were “dummy” tests and had a sinister purpose since “These tests were held to get me out of the team.”
نیشنل کرکٹ اکیڈمی میں میرا فٹنس ٹیسٹ ہوا تھا جس میں مجھے چیمپیئنز ٹرافی کے لئے سلیکٹ کیاگیا 2/10
— Umar Akmal (@Umar96Akmal) August 17, 2017
مگر افسوس جب میں انگلینڈ پہنچا تو مکی آرتھر نے ایک منصوبے کے تحت ساری ٹیم کا ڈمی ٹیسٹ لیا اور مجھے ان فٹ کہہ کر واپس بھیج دیا 4/10
— Umar Akmal (@Umar96Akmal) August 17, 2017
Relations between Akmal and Arthur have not been ideal since last year when Pakistan toured Australia and the coach complained about the batsman's fitness levels.
The Pakistani player was sent back from the Champions Trophy in England after Arthur said his fitness standards was not at par with the team.
After Akmal joined the team when his fitness was cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) trainers at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, the altercation took place between him and Arthur again.
Akmal claimed that the foreign coach had used abusive language with him.
The PCB issued a strong worded statement, condemning the reckless tweets made by Akmal with regards to his omission from the Champions Trophy squad.
The statement said Akmal was given as many as seven chances to improve his fitness and match the standards of his teammates. (With PTI inputs)