But when informed by The Daily Telegraph that Sarfraz would be taking his spot this Thursday, a confused Akmal said he had not been informed of the decision and declared he would be standing behind the stumps at Bellerive.
"No, I am playing as the wicketkeeper-batsman," said Akmal, who dropped four second-innings catches in the SCG Test.
"I will play [in Hobart]. I don't know anything else, you will have to ask the team manager or the coach."
Asked if he had spoken to Sarfraz since his arrival, Akmal said: "No, he is a rival today."
Amid the confusion, team manager Intikhab maintained that Sarfraz, a 22-year-old from Karachi, would play in Hobart. "Sarfraz will play, there is no doubt about that. We will wait and see if Kamran will be a specialist batsman," Intikhab said.
This latest chaos is another kick in the guts for the tourists, whose build-up for the final Test has been marred by reports of player disharmony over the treatment of the vice-captain.
Talk of axing Akmal rocked the team, with skipper Mohammad Yousuf and senior players publicly backing the keeper despite Sarfraz's arrival in Hobart.
The Pakistan Cricket Board issued a firm directive that Sarfraz "will be participating" in the Hobart Test - and the governing body now seems certain to get its way.
As the PCB launched a sweeping review of the Test series against Australia, Pakistan's parliament called for the dismissal of the PCB chief Ijaz Butt.
The selection wrangle is another blow for Akmal, who last night revealed he was so shattered by his SCG meltdown that he locked himself in his hotel room for four days watching his bloopers on video.
Pakistan sources have claimed his performance was affected by having to stay up late to babysit his young daughter in their hotel.
In a bid to rebound from such a horror performance, Akmal has been receiving advice from former Australian keeper Ian Healy and former Pakistan gloveman Wasim Bari.
Akmal said a major part of his recovery from Sydney was forcing himself to sit through video of his dropped catches.
"I have looked at video every day since the Sydney Test ended, I have sat in a room looking at video with coaches," Akmal said. "It was a very bad performance, but I have talked to Ian Healy and his best advice was to forget about it.
"I have worked hard at training [keeping to] Danish Kaneria, I do have a little bit of a problem keeping to him.
"At the moment I am feeling better. I will play in the third Test match and play better cricket."
Akmal's dropped catches have clearly affected him. He even issued an "apology to the nation" in a Pakistan newspaper.
"It was from my point of view my worst performance in any match of my career," he said.
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