‘Pick me’: Namibia captain asks to be picked in PSL after Kamran Akmal backs out

After Kamran Akmal announced that he would not play in the 2022 Pakistan Super League (PSL), Namibian cricketer Gerhard Erasmus and Dutch player Maxwell O’Dowd took to Twitter to express their PSL ambitions.

Kamran Akmal has decided not to play in PSL 2022 after being picked in the draft in the lowest category of players by his old team Peshawar Zalmi. The 39-year-old was moved down from the Diamond category to the Gold category by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). But he was eventually the last pick for Peshawar from the Silver category. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, the wicketkeeper-batter called it a “humiliation” and revealed he would not play in the tournament. ESPNCricinfo shared his quote on Twitter to which Namibian cricket captain Gerhard Erasmus replied that he would love to play in the PSL for free.

“Pick me, I’ll be there for free, wrote Erasmus.

Pick me, I’ll be there for free. 👆

— Gerhard Erasmus (@gerharderasmus) December 13, 2021

Meanwhile, Netherlands cricketer Maxwell O’Dowd also retweeted the original post and expressed his desire to play in the tournament next year. He wrote, “Up for a swap!? I’ll gladly play!”

Up for a swap!? I’ll gladly play! https://t.co/5uX6183lnQ

— Maxwell O'Dowd (@Maxiboi23) December 13, 2021

On Monday, Akmal had said that it was also “an embarrassment”.

“If it has to end like this, so be it, but I am not going to play with such humiliation,” he said.

“This is an embarrassment. You don’t treat a player like this. With all the runs I have scored in the league, I deserve better,” he said in the interview.