Sports

‘Akmal should not have come back after Sydney’

Following Kamran Akmal’s dismal performance behind at Trent Bridge, his sacking is expected from the Test squad.

Faras Ghani July 31, 2010

NOTTINGHAM: Following Kamran Akmal’s dismal performance behind the stumps at Trent Bridge, calls are ripe once again, including from the team officials, for his sacking from the Test squad.

While latching onto every opportunity off the bat in the series against Australia, his reach against the swinging ball was widely questioned. However, the drop off Mohammad Aamir in the fifth over of the first Test against England amplified cries for his ouster.

“Akmal should’ve stayed out of the Test squad after his omission from the final Test in Australia [at Hobart],” a Pakistan team official told The Express Tribune. “He doesn’t look 100 per cent confident behind the stumps and these missed opportunities dent the whole team’s confidence.”

Sarfraz Ahmed was rushed to Australia following Akmal’s disastrous performance in Sydney but the young wicket-keeper has now been confined to wilderness and looks fourth in line behind Akmal. Zulqarnain Haider is the preferred backup for Akmal for the long tour of England and Sarfraz has also been overlooked for Pakistan A duties for the tour of Sri Lanka next month.

“What was the point in the Pakistan Cricket Board sending out Sarfraz as his replacement all the way to Australia if they didn’t want to keep him as backup for longer. Sarfraz is fit, energetic and certainly a good candidate as Akmal’s replacement the board should’ve stuck with him.”

However, it looks highly unlikely that Akmal will be replaced from the Test squad given Pakistan’s fragile batting line-up. His performance with the bat in England has been less than satisfactory and the lack of experience in Pakistan’s middle-order will force the team’s persistence with him. Calls for his inclusion as a specialist batsman, too, have been downplayed given his batting record in England.

“If you drop Akmal as the keeper, he can’t justify his place in the team given his batting record. He plays the rare innings but is far from consistent and including him will only force us to play another inexperienced individual in difficult conditions.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2010.

COMMENTS (13)

Reddy | 14 years ago | Reply I liked the look of Zulquarnain. the fight he showed in that one innings is more than what Paki players have shown in their entire careers. Hopefully and ideally this should be the end of Akmal. But this is Pakistan we are talking about and I wont be surprised if Akmal Sr first makes his way in to the team as a batman ( Even though he has done little of not in the last 10 visits to the crease )and then nudges out Haider as the keeper. then it will all back to normal. But I enjoyed the Haider/Ajmal partnership as I would have enjoyed an Indian fight back. Always like an underdog.

Faisal Shaji | 14 years ago | Reply well it is no karachi or lahore card. k Akmal has a track record of dropping catches in crucnh games. I my self have played first class cricket in Lahore. And I am advocating Hafeez and Taufeeq Umer who are good genuine openers. Then Khurram Manzoor is good. We have lost Asim Kamal due to bad management but I think still there are good players such as Quetta's Shoaib Khan and Multan's Naveed Yaseen who have been ignored over unknown Azhar Ali and Umer Amin. Tell me why Khurram Manzoor did not get the nod after scoring good 77 at Hobart test. or for that matter Hafeez despite being in good form. and if you remember how cronyism plays. Had Waqar Younus prevailed he could have got his hometown pal Irfan, an ordinary lad, included instead of Umar Gul but lucky sense prevailed. I think Nic Robertson, eminent commentator and writer described Faisal Iqbal as one Pakistani player who has got every short in the book. I dont think Mr Riaz is correct when saying that Faisal has failed on occasions. Pakistan has played inconsistent cricket but he had scored. He is misreporting here.

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IHTISHAM | 14 years ago | Reply IN my opinion first of all in PCB everything is under politics. if you look at other countries cricket boards their chairmen did not interrupt in their national team and every person in the board concentrates on his work what is going in our team our chairman Ijaz Butt interrupt in every matter in Pakistani team either it is selection of players in every matter and his real business is to control PCB nor to interrupt in national cricket team selectors are present for selection of players.another thing we should have to encuorage our senior players people are talking to remove kamran but player like him the class act the history maker u will never find all of u are talking about sarfarz and zulqarnain but one thing i say they both are non sense the will not reach to class of kamran akmal in 100 years pcb and all of u should think about it and another thing chirman of pcb must be a cricketer not an idoit old politician like ijaz butt.

IZ | 14 years ago | Reply Agree with everything Shahid Mohammed has said. Lets give the new guys a chance to build the team. Why bring back old failures and people who have caused so much disharmony in the past? Finally, we need someone decent to keep wicket. Akmal is not a cricketer of international quality in test matches.

shahid mohammed | 14 years ago | Reply Hello and Salaam. As a keen follower of the game and as a player/coach myself. I am amazed at what I see and hear from and Pakistani cricket. The media, former players, and the Pakistani public always say the same old thing time and time again like a broken record e.g. When the team loses blanket changes are demanded by removing board members, captains etc. Life time bans that last a couple of months and people are bought back in. The only thing consistent about Pakistani cricket is its inconsistency and the ability to try the same old faces time and time again e.g. Test cricket - Shoaib Malik (50 odd innings only 2 hundreds and 8 fifties - Not good enough to win for Pakistan when required), Faisal Iqbal (I have never seen him score runs) so his name to be branded about is mad. Akmal brothers’ starting with Kamran. His keeping mistakes cost Pakistan and cost them dearly, Umer - wants to be the next Afridi. I think Umer can bat in test cricket but somebody needs to bring him back to reality and if he fails to understand then put him in for ODI's and T20 only. For years the bowling has been the very best of Pakistan and I would gladly pay to see the bowling but batting!!! Not a chance. PCB! Stop making flat bat tracks in Pakistan so your players learn to bat in the real world. Australia - The Holy Grail away, S. Africa and now England (Good all round team). Your batsmen don't seem to score heavy runs in their own back yard. Waqar Younis said at the beginning of the UK tour "that with a new and inexperienced side, this is a learning tour" Let them learn and in life you sometimes need to lose to learn how to win - Tiger Woods. Give S. Butt a two year run at Captaincy and don't resort to bringing back players that caused disharmony within the team for personal gain. Finally. Please stop having so many controversies. Every tour there are at least two. Win! But fairly and with honour! Yours truly. Shahid.

Riaz Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply Stop playing the Karachi card again, Yes Akmals suck but Karachi people were spreading malicious false rumors about him even when he was performing well. Why do people in Karachi only think of themselves as if it is a country. We need men like Imran, Javed and Wasim who cared about not about who is Karachiwala and who is not...they care for performance. It is a fact that this team has no pride and no technique. Malik and Umar Gul have been the only players who could play on these wickets. We have Umar Amin ( no idea where is and for what reason), Ijaz Ahmed (what is reason he is in England... if he is batting coach I wonder if he was not there at all could we be any worse. He is disgrace and should pack and leave). Butt has been horrible in this test and so has been Azhar Ali. I really don't see Butt is good enough to be a batsman let alone be a captain. Akmal brothers are tainted and so is Kaneria...something wrong with them. Kaneria has been playing in England forever...he is either too stupid or paid well to lose matches...which may be the case. get a batting coach and select some Pakistani origin batsmen from England ... The whole team sucks except three bowlers, and Waqar and Aqib who have done well with fast bowlers. We should have someone like Mushtaq and Inzman ...we need a spin coach and batting coach. Faisal Iqbal has been given plenty of chances and he was a disgrace every time ...enough said and it has nothing with Miandad.

Faisal Shaji | 14 years ago | Reply Akmals are in the team due to lobby. So as Shoaib Malik. Poor players are out such as Yousuf, younus and Khurram Manzoor. Faisal Iqbal is out due to his relationship with Miandad. It is politics which is killing cricket in Pakistan. Despite loosing badly, the akmals and sundry would keep on playing until they would find themselves scoring but that to against a lowly Bangladesh or at dead wickets. There were good players as well who are out of favor such as fast bowler Anwer Ali, experienced Aamer Sajjad and Riffat Ullah Mohmand. Then Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar are better openers then Salman Butt and most blue eyed of all times Imran Farhat who is again playing since his father in law Ilayas Ahmed, the mad cap, is closed to Ijaz Butt.

Ilyas Hussain | 14 years ago | Reply Clean up the Pakistan cricket board from people like,ijaz butt,wasim Bari,and the rest of the co,and you will have a great team.I do like the idea of a new team,and I do belive that we should try and stand by with the younger players,but wot about the players who take their place in the side for sure,people like kamran akmal,Imran farat,they should not be in a test side,and wot about malik,I am sure if kaman akmal was playing for austrillia,India,sout Africa,England,or other country then Pakistan,would he be playing,he would be thrown out of the side,but not with Pakistan,god no how much he must have paid to remain in the side, Bribe,contacts,and personal aganda are above Pakistan,the country who feeds them and there family,it has been brushed aside and their personal gradge against each other comes first,I think till we get rid of people like ijaz butt,wasim Bari,yawaar the tour manger,we will never become a great team.

syed shayan | 14 years ago | Reply PCB need to give chance to sarfraz nawaz because pakistan lose match due akmal bad keeping............

Rana Umair A Khan | 14 years ago | Reply Although they are capable but both brothers don't fall in test cricket . Its better to keep them away for a period of learning. It would be better to give a chance to Younas Khan for keeping because that would be less risky due to his consistent batting skills on other side in which Kamran is not fit in test cricket. And also we should have a close watch on our top and middle order batting players who are continuously performing not well. We need solid players and it could be well by making separate teams for one day, T20 and for Test matches.

Criconline | 14 years ago | Reply Kamran Akmal’s stay in the team may not remain for Wicket-keeper but definitely for Batting candidate so in the end, a bonus that will remain be inclusion for both! He definitely need to revisit his position behind the wickets as what was pointed out by one of commentators as where he keeps himself way outside the line of off-stumps.

Asad Baig | 14 years ago | Reply It is sad to see that politics plays a major part in Cricket in Pakistan.PCB(Pakistan Cricket Board)being the main culprit.As a keen follower of the game since my childhood,after 3 decades of watching Pakistan cricket it is no surprise that people like Kamran Akmal are in the team. As the saying in Cricket goes "catches win matches".Over the years Kamran has dropped dozens of catches of mostly Kaneria,Sami and others.He is among the worst keepers Pakistan has Produced.He is a batsman who can keep,what Pakistan needs is a genuine keeper,like Bari or Rashid Latif.He should have been replaced a few years ago but was hanging on mostly through his batting and thanks to his deep links in the PCB.Now his batting is going down the hill like his keeping.He should be replaced immediately with more deserving and able keeper like Sarfraz Ahmed.

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