COLOMBO: In March last year, Kamran Akmal was the villain of the whole of Pakistan, as he dropped Ross Taylor twice behind the wickets, allowing the Kiwi to smash a brilliant hundred that caused the South Asian giants to lose to the unfancied Kiwis in a World Cup game at Pallekele.
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Akmal was eventually shunted out of the national team, and to make it worse for him, there were allegations of corruption against his name too. Last month, the Pakistan selectors, however, decided to give him one last lifeline by recalling him for the series against Australia and the World T20 in Sri Lanka.
Wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who was overlooked for Akmal, even alleged that he would expose the latter's misdeeds in front of the entire world.
On Monday, Akmal put perhaps the most gloomy phase of his life behind by smashing a brilliant, unbeaten 92 (50b, 5x4, 6x6) at the Premadasa to shape a five-wicket win over arch-rivals India in a warm-up game ahead of the World T20.
Choosing to bat first, India raced to a massive 185 for three, in which Virat Kohli, continuing his hot streak, smashed an unbeaten 75 (40b, 7x4,2x6),while the other explosive talent in the side, Rohit Sharma, who had endured a miserable run on the same shores a couple of months back, scored 56 (40b, 6x4, 2x6).
However, despite a four-wicket haul by off-spinner R Ashwin, India withered against Kamran and Shoaib Malik's magnificent onslaught as the duo added 95 runs off 46 balls for the sixth wicket.
Despite the loss coming in a warm-up match, Indian skipper MS Dhoni will go into the tournament a worried man, considering the meagre and mediocre bowling resources at his disposal.
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