http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rashid-Latif-c84084: Extra weight behind poor form of Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal
Former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 captain and wicketkeeper batsman Rashid Latif claims that extra weight is behind the poor form of Kamran Akmal, who has been struggling to keep wickets for Pakistan in the recent past.
Rashid stated, “When he (Kamran) joined the Pakistan cricket team in 2002 his weight was 68-kg but now he weighs 79-kg. He is over-weight because a wicket-keeper in international cricket should be under-weight like a jockey.”
The former player suggested, “During off season, he should run 10 miles every day. Apart from that, swimming, crunches, push-ups and heavy short sprints can also help him.”
According to Rashid, one of the main reasons behind the struggle of Kamran was exercising in the gym, but he further said that hard work can help the troubled wicketkeeper to regain form with both his bat and the gloves.
Kamran has been in the spotlight after he dropped a few catches in a match of the ICC World Cup 2011 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754. His missed chances were considered to be the main reason behind Pakistan’s humiliating defeat by 110 runs in the match.
The struggling wicketkeeper dropped star Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor, when he was batting on zero, and four. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 took full advantage of the let-offs, as he smashed an unbeaten 131 against the men-in-green, which included 62 runs off the last 16 balls he
faced.
Pakistan captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 wasn’t pleased with the performance of Kamran, and he hinted at replacing him with his younger brother Umar Akmal, who has kept wickets for Pakistan in four international matches, including three Twenty20s and a single One
Day International (ODI).
However, fortune favoured the elder Akmal, as his brother Umar injured his finger while practicing in the nets. This gave another opportunity to Kamran, who didn’t miss out on any catch in his next game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045.
In the very first over of the match, Zimbabwe’s star opener Brendan Taylor edged one away swinging ball from Abdul Razzaq, which was nested safely by Kamran and his fellow teammates were delighted with that.
Afridi and his men surrounded Kamran in joy and treated the wicketkeeper as if he had took three catches at once. Apart from that, the Pakistani media also lauded the catch taken by Kamran and all social networking websites were full of surprise reactions
and emotions by the Pakistani fans.
Kamran will definitely enjoy this rare moment of joy, but he may still miss out in the next game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391. Pakistan have qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament, and they
may experiment with Umar as a wicketkeeper in their final match of Group B.
On the other hand, Kamran may be given a chance in order to boost his confidence ahead of the knockout stages of the mega event.
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