Future of Pakistan’s senior players – Part Five
Continued from the previous part...
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122, the wicketkeeper/batsman from Lahore, is also one of those cricketers who have been under immense criticism over the past few years. The 30-year-old player is one of the most brilliant batsmen in the country, with no
cricket analyst having any doubts about his skills with the bat. However, it is Kamran’s keeping which has often led to the team’s downfall, dropping catches quite often.
A sound wicketkeeper is essential for a team’s success in international cricket, which is the reason why the national selectors opted to drop the experienced cricketer after his dismal performance behind the stumps in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Cricket
World Cup 2011, played in the sub-continent.
Some other glovemen like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shakeel-Ansar-c89546 got opportunities to prove their mettle at the global stage; however, none of them were able to give additional depth to the side with their batting.
Adnan, who happens to be Kamran’s younger brother, has established himself as a Test cricketer but his batting is not suitable for the limited-over formats, which require a wide range of strokes.
Meanwhile, Akmal worked extremely hard in the country’s domestic sport, scoring lots of runs for his departmental team, National Bank of Pakistan.
During his exile from international cricket, Kamran, in an interview with Pakpassion, expressed his desire to return to the national team, claiming that his batting could still prove to be a bonus for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 side.
“You need to have the ability to hit the ball through and over the infield in the early overs in 50 over and 20 over cricket and to unsettle the opposition gameplan. The rest is down to the selectors and if they feel that I am wanted
in the team combination then I would love another chance to represent my country,” the wicketkeeper expressed.
Disappointed with the performance of the young keepers, the selection committee, headed by the former Test left-arm spinner, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Iqbal-Qasim-c76980, opted to recall Akmal for the limited-over series against Australia and also for the World T20.
Pakistan’s T20 captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898, was delighted to have the dashing stroke-player back in the team and expressed that Kamran’s comeback has strengthened the batting line-up, which was in need of additional cushion.
"Kamran has been an excellent package for Pakistan as a wicketkeeper-batsman. Our batting has been strengthened by his comeback after a year," Hafeez mentioned.
The wicketkeeper proved his selection right by playing a couple of brilliant knocks against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the three-match T20 series, helping his side dismantle the Kangaroos. He also looked in smashing form during the warm-up fixture
against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Malik-c90088.
However, his performance was not up to the mark in the mega event, just managing 64 runs in half a dozen innings, at an average of 12.80 runs per innings. This by no means is a satisfactory performance, especially because Kamran was
asked to bat at number four, ahead of specialist batsmen like Malik and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595.
Taking into account the dearth of wicketkeepers in the country who can be categorized as world-class batsmen, Kamran is likely to retain his place in the limited-over squad. However, it remains to be seen if he is able to get back
into the Test team or not.
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