How Umar Akmal is being mishandled by Pakistan - Opinion
Over the last two and a half years, many talented young batsmen from Pakistan have made a mark in international cricket, which is a great sign for the Green Shirts as they were struggling in this department of the game in recent years.
The list includes the likes of Azhar Ali, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595, who has silently become the backbone
of Pakistan’s middle-order batting in the limited-over formats.
The 22-year-old cricketer from Lahore, having done extremely well at the domestic level as well as for Pakistan Under-19s, made his way to the national team in 2009, immediately making an impact at the highest stage of the game by scoring
a hundred in just his third One Day International. Since then, he has been a permanent member of the country’s limited-over squad, but unfortunately, Akmal is yet to register his second ODI hundred.
The right-hander was handed over a Test cap in the same year against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, with the smashing player proving his worth in the longer version of the sport as well, achieving a three-figure score on his debut at Dunedin.
Last year, Umar was dropped from the Test team, following a series of rash dismissals and has been out of the side since then. The stroke-maker averages more than 35 runs per innings in the 5-day format, which is not bad for a young
player, especially with his potential to improve on it in the coming years.
According to most of the cricketing experts in the country, Akmal remains the most talented batsman in Pakistan, who can become a world-beater, if given more confidence by the team management. However, much to the disappointment of
cricket followers around the world, the stylish right-hander has been labelled as a limited-over specialist, a tag which does not justify the talent of the man.
To make matters worse and ignite fire amongst the Pakistan cricket fans, Umar was recently dropped by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited’s (SNGPL) playing-11 for a President’s Trophy fixture against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-International-Airlines-c831
(PIA) at Lahore, despite having a first-class average of almost 48 runs per innings.
“It's really discouraging for me when I was snubbed by my department for just a petty reason,” Akmal told reporters in Lahore after he was dropped. “I am in full practice and was meant to play most of the rounds but due to Adnan's wedding
I had to miss most of the matches- a reason that was known to the management but still I am dropped. I was informed that it's a decision taken by higher management, and not the team management.”
As per the SNGPL coach, Basit Ali, the youngster needs to make some amendments in his game, which is more suited to the limited-over versions. “He needs to learn how to bat in the longer-format of the game,” said the former Test cricketer.
This has to be one of the most ill-researched statements by the former Karachi batsman as Umar has a much better first-class record than most of his SNGPL teammates, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ali-Waqas-c43621.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board should take notice of this situation as the authorities must not allow a player of such skill to be wasted due to poor management of the country’s domestic teams.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: