Pallekele (Sri Lanka), Mar 14(ANI): Pakistan's underperforming wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and his younger brother Umar will play in the World Cup match against Zimbabwe on Monday, captain Shahid Afridi has said.
There was confusion over whether the Akmal brothers would play in the wake of Pakistan's 110-run defeat against New Zealand last week.
After Kamran gave a double reprieve to New Zealand's century scoring skipper Ross Taylor, Pakistan considered using his brother Umar as a replacement in the remaining World Cup matches, but abandoned those plans after Umar suffered a finger injury.
The timing of his injury raised suspicions, as Umar was accused of feigning a back injury last year when Pakistan were planning to drop Kamran after his poor show behind the stumps in the Sydney Test.
On Sunday, Umar sprained his right ankle while playing football, but Afridi confirmed that the injury was not serious.
"He (Umar) is fit, it is a light injury. He fielded today and looked better, so definitely he will play tomorrow," Geo TV quoted Afridi, as saying.
Afridi admitted that there was no better option than going back to Kamran as wicketkeeper.
"Kamran's performance in batting hasn't been bad, but yes, he is struggling with his keeping. He is working very hard, and we haven't got such an option in the squad to whom we can give a chance in this tournament," he said.
"Kamran has been working hard for four days. He has support and our confidence, he seems a better choice. I think he knows the mistakes he has committed and he will try to cover it for sure and will perform," he added. (ANI)
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