'The way Pakistan played it felt Sri Lanka never left'
Akmal, who last played for Pakistan in 2017, said neither their cricket nor their selection process is right.
Kamran Akmal slammed Pakistan for losing the first ODI in Cardiff on Thursday to an inexperienced England side that had five debutants in. Pakistan were outplayed in all three departments of the game as the hosts took a 1-0 lead.
Akmal, who last played for Pakistan in 2017, said neither their cricket nor their selection process is right. The wicketkeeper-batsman said it is hard to understand how an in-form team that had beaten South Africa can go down like this to a second-string England side.
"I don't understand which way our performance is heading. It should get better by the day but Pakistan had a fully confident team who had played PSL, beaten South Africa. Wins and losses are part and parcel but the character needs to be shown now. Neither our cricket nor our selection process is right," Kamran Akmal said on his YouTube channel.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Sent in to bat first, Pakistan got off to the worst possible start by losing two wickets inside the first three balls of the match. Saqib Mahmood ran through the Pakistan top-order and he was well supported by Lewis Gregory, who too struck from the other end.
Pakistan never recovered from the early jolts and were skittled out for 141 in 35.2 overs.
In reply, Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley struck unbeaten half-centuries as England chased the target down in just 22 overs with nine wickets in the bank.
Disappointed with Pakistan's performance, Akmal, who has represented Pakistan in 52 Tests, 157 ODIs, and 28 T20Is, said he never felt that Sri Lanka had left England.
"The way Pakistan played cricket, it didn't feel as if Sri Lanka had left England. It felt as if England was playing against Sri Lanka itself. England did something that Pakistan should have done, bowling the opposition out for 141. Ben Stokes' captaincy was outstanding," Kamran Akmal stated.
Sri Lanka had lost all the matches of their limited-overs series against England.
"They had so many new players but to bowl out an in-form Pakistan batting line for 141 was creditable. If we had scored 250 then we could have put pressure on their batting line-up. We had a better bowling attack than them. Gregory took the new ball for England, that tells you a story," Akmal said.
