 I played a positive game: Akmal
2nd Dec 2007 23:30 IST
Agencies
Having done his bit to take Pakistan close towards avoiding the ignominy of a follow-on against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today, Kamran Akmal said his defiant century is the product of his positive attitude.
The diminutive Pakistani wicketkeeper-batsman said with a dominant India dictating terms and a partisan Eden Gardens crowd rooting in their favour, it was advice from coach Geoff Lawson and stand-in captain Younis Khan that stood him in good stead.
"This century was difficult. The wicket helped the spinners and the crowd was rooting for them. So there was a lot of pressure. Still I played a positive game, as advised the coach and the captain," he said.
Asked whether it was one of his toughest tons, Akmal replied, "These are tough times for us. The wicket was also not playing easy. To score the runs here was very satisfying. Misbah (Ul-Haq) was a help and we played positively."
Coming together at 150/5, Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq put on 207 runs for the sixth wicket and the partnership ended when Akmal (119) was bowled by Harbhajan Singh.
Akmal regretted he had got out at the wrong time. "I should have stayed on," he said.
Akmal has been slated of late for being sloppy behind the stumps and when asked whether he would like to be called a batsman-keeper, Akmal said, "I want to be a keeper-batsmen".
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