Kamran to Umar Akmal: Learn from Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli

Bengaluru, April 29: Umar Akmal has been banned by Pakistan Cricket Board for three years from all forms of cricket for his failure to report a corrupt approach. Often viewed as the most talented of Akmal brothers, Umar rarely delivered on his promise and his elder brother Kamran has a piece of advice for him, learn from three Indian superstars - Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

"It has been a difficult time for us as a family with not just Covid19 but with the situation around Umar. He can never be what the media says he did. He may have reported late, but PCB should deal with him like anyone else. Cricket is our bread and butter. He has been dealt a very raw deal by the previous management (led by former coach Mickey Arthur). He needs a bit more support," Akmal told a chat show Cow Corner Chronicles.

The elder Akmal is therefore keen for Umar to learn and improve by observing India's superstars.

"My advice for Umar is that he has to learn. If he has made a mistake, he must learn from others. He is still young. There are many distractions in life. But he must learn from say Virat Kohli. In the early days of IPL, Virat was different and then he changed his attitude and approach. Look how he has turned into world's number one batsman. Then there is our own Babar Azam who is now in the top three in the world.

"Then there are other examples like Dhoni. Look at the way he led his team. Then Sachin paaji who was always away from controversies. These are fantastic examples before us. We should observe and learn from them. They only looked at the sport. Off the ground their behaviour was impeccable with their fans and they are fine ambassadors for the sport. We can only benefit from their examples. All this benefits our country as well just from looking at these guys, especially the current lot of Kohli, Babar Azam and Abid Ali," said Akmal.

The senior Akmal has played 53 Tests, 157 ODIs and 58 T20Is in his career that started in 2002.

Kamran had had some on-field skirmishes with India's Delhi duo of Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma. Akmal clashed with Gambhir during the 2010 Asia Cup in Dambulla and later with Ishant during a Twenty20I at Bengaluru in 2012-13.

But Akmal said he has left all that behind and forgotten about it, as he referred to the Delhi pair as good friends.

"It was all due to misunderstanding and happened due to the heat of the moment then. Gautam and I are good friends because we have played a lot in 'A' cricket. We meet regularly, have food together. It was all due to me not understanding what he said. The same with Ishant at Bangalore. You know me I don't say much on the field. Both Gautam and Ishant are very good boys. We respect them and they respect us. What happens on the field, stays there," remarked Akmal.