Kamran Akmal reveals how Inzamam-ul-Haq helped him nullify Irfan Pathan's 2006 hat-trick

Out-of-favour Pakistani wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal may not win his place back in the national team with ease now, but was a threat to many opponents back in his prime. Under former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, Akmal seemed to flourish at such a point where no one else was primed to take the wicketkeeper-batsman's slot in the team. One of his memorable series was when archrivals India toured Pakistan in 2006 to play a three-match Test series and five-match ODI series under Rahul Dravid's leadership.

Also Read: Kamran Akmal Recalls MS Dhoni's Splendid Form During The 2006 ODI Series In Pakistan

Irfan Pathan hattrick: Kamran Akmal on Inzamam-ul-Haq's tips during Karachi Test 

During an interview with Pakistan broadcaster Sawera Pasha on her Youtube chat show CricCast, Kamran Akmal said that he had nothing going on in his mind when he walked to the wicket during the final Test match at Karachi. He said that he was new in the side and did not have that much pressure on me.

Also Read: Kamran Akmal Hails 'Hitman' Rohit Sharma For His Commitment Towards The Game

Speaking about Inzamam-ul-Haq's advice before going to bat, Kamran Akmal said his former skipper asked him to play his natural game just like the way he played in India 2005 and in Australia before that, where he also scored a century.  He further said that Inzamam asked him not to take the pressure and said that whatever happens, it cannot go worse than this. It can only go better.

Also Read: Irfan Pathan Retires | Throwback To His Hat-trick Against Arch-rivals Pakistan In 2006

During the interview, Akmal also remembered the exquisite cut shot he played against RP Singh soon after he arrived at the crease, a stroke that gave him immense confidence as well as the valuable partnerships he had with the lower-order batsmen, which included contributions coming from former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and pacer Shoaib Akhtar.

Also Read: Inzamam-ul-Haq Predicts Sunil Gavaskar Would've Scored 15-16k Runs In Modern-day Tests

The wicketkeeper-batsman, while speaking about winning the match, said that it was an unbelievable performance from the team after being down at 39/6 (courtesy the historic Irfan Pathan hattrick in the first over). Speaking about the century, Kamran Akmal said that It was an innings he will remember all his life and it was a great feeling to have won the Test series in Pakistan. Kamran Akmal’s 113 was picked by Wisden as the best innings played by a wicket-keeper batsman in the 2000s.

Throwback to the Irfan Pathan hattrick

The Irfan Pathan hattrick in the 2006 Karachi Test continues to be remembered by many Indian cricket fans. Irfan Pathan rattled the Pakistani top-order and claimed his first-ever hattrick. That Irfan Pathan hattrick included the wickets of Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf in the first over of the match. Yousuf, who faced the hat-trick ball, faced a ripper of a delivery that went right through his defence and crashed the timber behind him.

Kamran Akmal on MS Dhoni's performance in the 2006 ODI series in Pakistan 

During the interaction, Kamran Akmal praised former Team India skipper MS Dhoni, calling him the best wicketkeeper-batsman that India has ever produced. Talking about MS Dhoni's performance in the 2006 ODI series, Kamran Akmal said that had former Team India skipper 'took the ODI series away' from the home team. MS Dhoni had a terrific ODI series against Pakistan in which he scored 219 runs that included three half-centuries. India went onto beat Pakistan 4-1 in the series.

(IMAGE: KAMRAN AKMAL / PAKISTAN CRICKET / TWITTER)