Umar Akmal, Pakistan star, grudges Virat Kohli's batting position, records

Umar Akmal has made a big statement. The 26-year-old Pakistan cricket team batsman has said that if his No. 6 batting position is changed to No. 3, like that of Virat Kohli, he can match the Indian cricket team captain.

Umar Akmal, who has often been accused of not playing to his potential, made the claim after a match-winning performance in the Pakistan Super League tie between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United on Monday.

"When people compare me with Virat Kohli, it's not fair.

It's a matter of batting positions. Since his debut, he is batting at No. 3 and I have been playing at No. 6. Let me play at 3 and Kohli at 6, then compare me with him," Umar Akmal said in an interview.

This is not the first time that Akmal has complained about his batting position. During the 2016 World T20, Akmal was caught on camera talking to Imran Khan about putting in a word to the team management to change his batting position.

Umar



Akmal who has played in 116 ODIs for Pakistan has just two centuries, while Kohli has hit 27 hundreds in 179 matches. In T20Is too, Kohli's record is better. He has scored 1709 runs in 48 matches, while Akmal has scored 1690 runs in 82 games. READ?|?India vs Australia: Five talking points ahead of Virat Kohli & Co.'s Aussie test Akmal added that Kohli should be compared to Pakistan's Babar Azam. "Compare him with Babar Azam, who is doing well at 3. He is in great form, so you can compare him with Babar," he said. Controversy's child Akmal has often been embroiled in controversies. Apart from fitness issues, he landed in troubled waters when he abused Lahore coach Basit Ali during the Quad-e-Azam trophy in Lahore in 2016.

"We cricketers have families too and it's not nice for them to see negative stories being brought up and highlighted in the media. Our families struggle to cope with such controversies which our media seem to thrive on," he had said earlier.