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Former wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal believes favouritism and a poor approach to domestic cricket is hurting Pakistan. In an exclusive interview with CricBlog, Akmal believes constant changing to the domestic structure, as well as board personnel, is having an adverse effect on the team, who have failed in a number of recent ICC tournaments.

Speaking to Arvind Kalyana Krishnan, Akmal also touched on Virat Kohli and Indian cricket. Akmal was in awe of the way India won the recently-concluded T20 WC 2024, and gave his opinion on their recent success. He also drew light on his friendship with the likes of MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.

Plus, Akmal gave his thoughts on Steve Smith and whether he still has more to offer ahead of the 2024/25 Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Kamran Akmal interview: Pakistan’s struggles, India’s T20 World Cup win, Steve Smith, MS Dhoni and more

Below is the entire transcript of the Kamran Akmal interview, as well as the audio, in Hindi.

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan:  After performing well in the ICC T20 WC 2022 and making it to the final, Pakistan weren’t at their best during the Cricket World Cup 2023 as well T20 World Cup 2024, and failed to make it to the final of the World Test Championship 2023 as well. They also recently lost the Test series to Bangladesh.

Where are they going wrong in your opinion? What’s hindering Pakistan’s performances in their last few ICC tournaments and what in your opinion needs to be done by Pakistan to get their hands on their fourth ICC trophy?

Kamran Akmal: See firstly you said that Pakistan performed well in the ICC T20 WC 2022 and made it to the final, but if you see overall for the last 5-6 years, and even in the ICC T20 WC 2022, it’s been the same story. Everybody knows how Pakistan played the final, and how they made it to that stage. I mean, the Netherlands had defeated South Africa and only because of that did Pakistan reach the finals. In that same tournament, Pakistan had lost to Zimbabwe but OK, they still made it to the final and that’s a big deal.

However, before that and after that, Pakistan haven’t played any extraordinary cricket. A lot of teams have beaten us at home and we aren’t winning anything outside home either. The only teams that Pakistan beat are the smaller teams. So we weren’t going in the last direction.

As for the reason why we are not getting better, then that’s our domestic cricket. Our domestic cricket and structure changes every year and that’s the main problem with Pakistan cricket. Earlier, we used to play Quaid-e-Azam trophy and department cricket, one-day tournaments…..There was a proper process as well as quality cricket. A strong base was made through domestic cricket and we got good players that emerged through. Unfortunately, that cricket is over and now there are 6 teams and that has damaged Pakistan cricket.

Even the performance criteria for the Pakistan Cricket Board and selectors have been wrong. The selection process is completely finished and there’s a lot of favoritism. It’s all about liking and disliking, and playing their favourites. The chief selector, coach, captain….. in my opinion, they’re the reason behind the downfall and their ego has made Pakistan cricket struggle.

If you look at the recent results, then we’ve lost to almost every team. Look at our current standings, we lost to the USA in the T20 World Cup 2024 so that’s an alarming situation for us. So let’s see if things get better for us.

The deserving people in PCB need to come and those who can take better decisions need to come. Good cricketers will then come from domestic cricket and that’ll make cricket better for us in my opinion.

If I’m to address your question directly then yes, the selections, the board and all yes, but teams all over the world have become much better too and if we look at our team now, then we’re worse than Afghanistan too. Even if Pakistan have to beat Afghanistan, we have to take a lot of efforts irrespective of the format as Afghanistan are also a very good team now. Teams have gone ahead. It will take time but we need to make things better, we need to clear our minds. This mentality of liking and disliking of players that’s happening in Pakistan cricket needs to stop. The people who are coming in PCB….4-5 new people every time I mean…..the people who spoil things are bought back then how can things get better? Hence, we need to do some things with a fresh mind, give people confidence.

I feel very happy when I see the BCCI realise this. They know how to utilise their resources and thus, we all can see how good Indian cricket has now become. We need to learn from them. They’re continuously rising and doing better. Like see, VVS Laxman is doing good at the junior level for India and then Rahul Dravid was doing good before he left and now they have Gautam Gambhir.

Even before Dravid, India had Ravi Shastri who was doing well. These are some basic things India are doing and hence, they’re dominating. It’s their approach. Personal issues will always happen and it happens with every team. However, if you keep going with it, and constantly end the careers of players then that’s not a good sign, which is happening in Pakistan cricket.

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: During the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Final, Virat Kohli was given the player of the match award for his knock of 76 (59). This knock had contrasting thoughts from the cricketing fraternity and analysts. What is your opinion on this knock? Was it a well-paced knock based on the situation or was Virat’s knock a bit too slow?

Kamran Akmal: See if Virat Kohli hadn’t scored those runs, would India have been able to win that match and the T20 WC? Would they have been able to defend the total? Of course not. At one point in time, it felt like South Africa would’ve won the game two overs earlier. It looked like they’d have chased the total with ease.

It was an amazing comeback by the Indian team. Full credit should be given to Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. The way he utilised his bowlers, the way Jasprit Bumrah played…..I mean although he made India win the match, but he also made the whole world love him with the way he was bowling, the way Hardik Pandya bowled in the last over, I mean he’s a world-class all-rounder and a very good match-winner.

As far as Virat Kohli’s knock is concerned, then no matter how much you appreciate it, it’ll still be less. Look at the match situation, India had lost three wickets in the powerplay overs itself. Over there, he built the innings and steadied things from one end. In my opinion, only a big-match player can do that. I feel it’s a very good knock, and a world-class innings. A player performed in a big match. I get it that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and everyone has their own thoughts about the game but for me, I was watching every ball of the T20 WC final and Virat Kohli is the reason why India became the champions. That knock was very cruical. Although it was a team effort but Kohli scored those runs and that’s why they were able to put up a good total and that was a good thing. Despite having a poor tournament, he was superb in the final. The temperament was superb.

The way the coach and Rohit Sharma backed him and the way they showed him confidence, that counted a lot. Overall, only Virat Kohli could’ve played that kind of a knock in that kind of a situation. It was excellent batting. This wasn’t the first time. He has played such knocks several times in ICC tournaments. He played a similar knock against Pakistan in Melbourne during the previous edition of the T20 WC too. I feel if you pick out a few of the greatest knocks by him then that one would surely be on the list. Another one is this one which he played in the T20 WC 2024 final. The way he plays under pressure, and his temperament is something youngsters should learn and not criticise.

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Steve Smith hasn’t really been at his best for Australia of late. Despite being one of the best players of this era, he hasn’t been able to play consistently like before. Do you think it’s the end of Steve Smith? Has his age impacted his hand-eye coordination? Will he return to form? Your thoughts on Steve Smith’s future and his batting form?

Kamran Akmal: See the talks about Steve Smith not being in form.. .I mean, what bad form? What bad time? His batting average in Tests was 60 at one point and it’s still very good. He’s the backbone of Australian cricket and he’s still leading the batting unit. He might not be scoring centuries but he’s still scoring runs. He’s still scoring fifties from time to time? So how can anyone say that his time is up and he should think about his future? I don’t feel anything like that.

Steve Smith doesn’t need to think like that. Even Virat Kohli had a phase where he wasn’t at his best. Australian cricket isn’t thinking like that for sure and Steve Smith is still a top player.

The only thing I feel that isn’t right is the decision to make him open. Him opening the batting for Australia post the Pakistan series wasn’t the right move. He’s been so good at 4, so why you suddenly want him to open? Don’t Australian cricket have any other openers? After David Warner left, they decided to experiment at the top and made Steve Smith the opener and that didn’t work, he should go back to batting at 4.

He’s a very big player, he’s a match-winner and has achieved a lot of things in a very short span of time. He has scored a lot of runs in his career. Currently, the cricketing world have 5-6 players who are the main reason behind people wanting to watch the game. Virat Kohli is one, Steve Smith is another, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Babar Azam are a few others and if they leave then cricket won’t be fun anymore.

Steve Smith has made runs everywhere in the world and I don’t feel that there’s any reason for anyone to worry about him. I rate him very highly and he always plays well under pressure. I’m sure and I hope he’ll get back to playing like before. I mean his form is still not bad or anything he’s still playing well. He played so well in the MLC 2024 so how can you say he’s not in form? He’s scoring runs and is still looking good in white-ball cricket.

His game in T20s has improved and he’s currently playing very well in ODIs too. It’s just that he’s been opening in Test cricket so the returns haven’t been the best and even there, he scored a brilliant 91 against the West Indies. Just because he’s had a few bad games doesn’t mean he’s finished. Anyone can have 8-9 bad games. This doesn’t mean there’s any sorts of issues. Cricket Australia aren’t thinking that way for sure and Steve Smith is someone who’s very passionate about the game. He loves scoring runs and batting so I don’t think he’s thinking that way either. He’s a big cricketer and still has a lot of records to break.

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: You’ve been Pakistan’s wicket-keeper for several years, and have played against India on numerous occasions. You’ve played several games against MS Dhoni, and as you and Dhoni both are wicket-keepers, have you ever spoken to him about the role? How do the conversations generally go between you and MS Dhoni? Do you talk about the game?

Kamran Akmal: See me and MS Dhoni started playing international cricket at almost the same time. The difference isn’t that much. I came before him and he came just a little later. We’ve played against each other on numerous occasions.

No doubt MS Dhoni is someone with a different mentality altogether, an absolute match-winner and he’s super calm. The way he played was fantastic, and had a fantastic career. We used to talk a lot about wicket-keeping, we used to talk a lot about batting and yeah, it was often good to talk to Dhoni.

We share a good bond and are good friends. Even with Gautam Gambhir too. I mean me and Gautam are good friends too. I share a good relation with him. He’s like my brother. In fact, I’d like to congratulate Gautam on winning his first Test as a coach, so happy for him.

As for India-Pakistan games, yes there’s a lot of pressure during India-Pakistan games but see, this thing isn’t just with India, it’s with every team. Like I said while answering your first question, only when personal goals are finished….. teams will only win when they play like a team. Thus, Pakistan needs to start playing like a team.

The performance and selection needs to get better. Pakistan cricket needs to get players from domestic cricket who at least have played well, and have scored a lot of runs. We need to have more A tours. We do have a few A tours in Asia but that’s isn’t going to be of much help. Only when our junior teams start touring places like Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa will they get better and learn and thus, we’ll get good backup.

Even today when me or any player meets Dhoni internationally or during tours, they seek advice, ask him doubts and learn from him. They should take advice from him, after all he’s a senior player. He’s such a good performer, he’s a legend, he’s India’s greatest captain. Thus, even I like talking to him. I talk to a lot of Indian players. I speak with Raina, I recently saw Robin Uthappa in England, Yuvi paji also of course, my favourite middle-order batter too so yeah, I keep talking to them and it feels nice.