Umar Akmal's raw talent needs to be appreciated - Opinion - Part One
Since Inzamam ul Haq, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325, Pakistan is facing a dearth of quality batsmen who can deliver the goods consistently at the ultimate level of the game. Many youngsters have made their way to the international arena since the last
decade but most of them have failed to cement their places in the national team.
Among the batsmen who made their debuts for the Green Shirts in 2000s, Umar Akmal has looked the most promising. After some consistent performances for Pakistan Under-19s, Pakistan ‘A’ and in the domestic circuit, the young right-handed batsman from Lahore
got the call for the senior team’s tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in 2009.
Since his early days in club cricket, Umar was predicted for greatness as he was always oozing confidence and was never afraid of facing the fastest bowlers in the domestic arena even in his early-teens.
The right-hander lived up to his potential in the very first tour with the senior team as he scored a smashing hundred against the Islanders. Since then, the 22-year-old has been a regular member of the national team, at least in the limited-overs formats
of the sport.
The youngest of the three Akmal-brothers made his Test debut in the same year in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 and scored a century in his very first match, but unfortunately, it remains his only Test hundred so far.
Considering the talent possessed by the young player, extra-ordinary things were expected from the middle-order batsman from the beginning of his career. He has won many matches for the country but threw his wicket away cheaply at times when application
and concentration were the needs of the hour.
Ever-since Umar burst into the scene of international cricket he has been facing criticism from the cricketing ranks for being over-aggressive. Some of the condemnation has been positive but negative criticism has not been scarce.
Former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aamer-Sohail-c41418, who is one of the admirers of Akmal, feels that the right-hander should learn from the legendary batsman, Javed Miandad, who had the ability to change his game according to the situation.
“I see a lot of parallels between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, he realised relying purely on boundaries
to score against top class bowling was not a viable option. Instead he built innings' on singles and twos, supplemented by the occasional boundary,” http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sohail-c90628 stated while talking to
Pakpassion.
He continued, “As a batsman, you need to understand the situation, show due respect to the bowler and decide not to give away your wicket away.”
Despite a reasonable batting average of 35.81 runs per innings in 16 matches, Akmal lost his spot in the Test team in 2010, during the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/J-Botha-c1610 in the Dubai Test,
only to be caught at short third-man, which led to his axing for the next match in Abu Dhabi.
Umar appeared in three Tests last year and played some little cameos in difficult batting conditions in the Caribbean but by then, he had lost the confidence of the selectors, who decided to opt for Karachi’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Asad-Shafiq-c46208 at number six.
To be continued …
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