'Pehle aap ek toh poori kar lein' - Kamran Akmal takes subtle dig on Pakistan when asked if they can make two teams like India

Due to the injuries and various concerns regarding workload management, the Indian team has played with two different at a time on a couple of occasions in the recent past. One of the major examples regarding the same belongs to the 20-20 World Cup 2022 when the Rohit Sharma-led team was playing in the marquee tournament in Australia.

Whereas, on the other hand, another team was locking horns with South Africa in an ODI series at the same time in their own backyard. According to the cricket pundits and veterans of the game, it’s the bench strength of India that makes it very easy and smooth for the management to field two teams at the same time.

This very model adopted by the Indian Cricket Board has been a nucleus of discussion in a couple of cricket-playing nations. Most recently, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal was asked in an interview if Pakistan can do the same as India is doing with the best use of their bench strength.

Replying to the question, Kamran Akmal took a dig at the current performances of the national side of Pakistan and found it irrelevant to even think of playing two teams together.

"Pehle aap ek toh poori kar lein (Firstly, you need to complete your first team),” said the 41-year-old during an interview with paktv.tv journalist.

Later on, Akmal also stressed the end of department cricket setup in Pakistan. Akmal felt that it has also led to a decline in shaping up the future superstars in Pakistan cricket.

I know this because I've played there for years - Kamran Akmal on Department cricket in Pakistan

"You could've made 2–3 teams before 2018–19. Your domestic cricket was there. Department cricket was so rich in Pakistan. I know this because I've played there for years. Since we stopped it, making even one team is difficult," he added later.

Notably, Pakistan has had a horrific home summer as they didn’t win any bilateral series including the most recent series defeat against New Zealand.