Asim Kamal rues being “in and out” of Pak team despite performing well
By ANISunday, January 30, 2011
LAHORE - Pakistan’s middle order batsman Asim Kamal has expressed disappointment that he has not been able to cement his position in the national team despite performing well.
“What irks me is that I was always in and out of the team in spite of performing well. This continued even after Inzamam bhai’s retirement- a time when there was a vacancy in the middle order,” PakPassion.net quoted Kamal, as saying.
The left-handed batsman, who debuted against South Africa in 2003, recalled that it was a tough time to make an entry into the Pakistani team.
“You may consider it my fate that I emerged at a time when Pakistan had a very strong middle order. I had to compete with the likes of Inzamam, Younis and Yousuf which was a tough ask,” he stated.
Instead of becoming the tenth Pakistani to score a century on Test debut, Kamal achieved a more eminent but undesired feat by getting out for 99 runs on his Test debut, becoming only the third cricketer to do so after Robert Christiani and Arthur Chipperfield.
“I do not believe that the 99 run knock in my first Test match hampered my chances of having a prolonged Test career in any way. In fact, those 99 runs were more famous than many hundreds would have been!” he said.
Speaking of his approach towards the longest version of the game, Kamal said: “To me there is no pressure in Test cricket. I played at Test level without any fear or pressure. In fact, I found it easy to play Tests and in my view, I would have easily been one of Pakistan’s top batsmen if I had been persisted with.”
Kamal, who will turn 35 in March this year, believes that age is not a hindrance, and is hopeful of representing Pakistan in the international arena again.
“I am making a concerted effort to make a comeback in Test cricket as I feel I have at least 5 more years of cricket left in me - this is my bread and butter! Inshallah I will be successful,” he said. (ANI)
